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iPlayer 3.0 review - sounds good 
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Legend

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm
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Location: Belfast
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The BBC's iPlayer is one of the smartest two-and-a-half-year-olds we know, and with today's launch of a brand new beta it's smarter than ever.

There's a redesigned interface, improved navigation and a whole bunch of new features to play with, but they're all there for one reason: to help you find interesting things to watch and listen to.

The new, somewhat iPhone-esque interface is a big improvement over the existing one. It's more welcoming and considerably less confusing than before, with an excellent TV/radio listings widget that makes it easy to see what's on now and what's on later across the main TV and radio channels. It's customisable too, so if you want to get shot of Radio 1 and replace it with Radio Scotland you can.

The iPlayer home page now has four columns at the top: Featured, which details the BBC's current pick of its output; For You, which is based on what you've been watching; Most Popular, which is self-explanatory; and Friends. That's the iPlayer's new social network integration, and you'll need to sign up for a BBC ID to take advantage of it.

Once you've done that you can hook into Facebook and Twitter, viewing your Facebook friends in iPlayer, seeing what programmes they've recommended and posting status updates or tweets whenever you recommend something. In the longer term it'll involve other social networks too. It doesn't bring in your entire social network, though, just those contacts who have also signed up for a BBC ID.

GETTING SOCIAL: You can now connect the iPlayer to Facebook and Twitter to let other people know what programmes you liked. Other social networks are coming

Basic navigation has been improved - TV and Radio have been separated and categories now have sub-categories for much faster browsing - and you'll see there's a new "favourites" link above the four main columns.

This makes it easy to stay on top of your favourite programmes: click on the star below a TV show or radio show and iPlayer keeps an eye on it. Links next to the Favourites link alert you whenever there's a new episode of a Favourite, or when one of them is about to expire.

You can also subscribe to programmes, so for example if you like episode one you can subscribe to the rest of the series and the iPlayer desktop will automatically download them for you.

Waiting for the download links is taking forever today, though, presumably because the beta launch means the BBC's servers are taking a hammering.

Clicking on TV Favourites or Radio Favourites itself brings up a panel of thumbnails that take you straight to the programmes you've previously bookmarked. It's simple, blazingly fast and very handy, and your Favourites feed into the For You selection, too. Your BBC ID enables you to access your Favourites and recommendations from any other iPlayer-capable computer.

It's impressive stuff, but there's even more to come. The BBC has hooked up with Microsoft to bring Windows Live Messenger into iPlayer, enabling users to invite their friends to watch programmes and chat along, and we'll see that this summer; we'll also see links to other broadcasters' services, so for example if you search for an ITV or Channel 4 programme you'll get links to the ITV Player or 4oD.

We're always wary when we're promised new features - it's all too easy for once-useful applications to become too big and too bloated - but despite all the new stuff iPlayer is actually easier and faster to use than before.


Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/televisio ... z0p2PpOCES

There's some semi-explanatory pics at the link :)

BBC iPlayer 3: new features explained

Quote:
The BBC showed of the latest iteration of its iPlayer service today, dubbed iPlayer 3, promising better streaming capabilities, social integration and a general simplification of the service.

At the launch event, with TechRadar in attendance, the BBC's Anthony Rose called the iPlayer "more of an application than a website" and explained the many new features that make the iPlayer a more personalised service.

Below we highlight the main new bits of iPlayer 3 – bearing in mind that it is still in beta – which are set to make your VoD viewing experience that little bit more enjoyable.
New user interface

The new user interface is cleaner and is brought into the present with a TV listings page that tells you what's on now.

There is also new 'sliding drawers' options: Features, For You, Most Popular and Friends.
Live channel hopping

There is now a one-click window between channels, which means that you can essentially channel hop the iPlayer's live TV content.

To help you do this there will be quick links in the viewing window.
TV and Radio separate

The BBC has decided to make TV and Radio into separate things so that it is easier to browse through the categories.

Confusingly, Eric Huggers from the BBC says that they will be "separate but intermingled".
Twitter and Facebook connectivity

The social web has been integrated into the iPlayer, with partnerships with Twitter and Facebook announced.

This allows for some audience interaction when watching programmes, all within what the BBC is calling "a clean and intuitive user experience".
Friends recommendations

If you fancy taking a look at what your friends have been watching you can now do this through the Friends Recommendations section of iPlayer.

This is another social enhancement to the site, which obviously wants you to view as much content as possible.
Enhanced browsing

The browsing feature on the iPlayer has been significantly enhanced in a bid to make navigation of the service better.

You can now browse by popularity (there's a top-ten programme chart) and take a look at not only genres but sub genres too.
Windows Live Messenger integration

This announcement is a biggie for the BBC (so much so that they left it till last). Essentially using the new iteration of Windows Live Messenger, you will be able to synchronise watching shows with your friends wherever they are (through an on-screen minutes and seconds counter so you can see how far through the programme you both are) and live chat about the programme.

It sounds an awful lot like the Twitter and Facebook connectivity but a whole lot more intuitive.
Series downloading

Instead of just downloading specific episodes, users will now be able to batch record series, meaning that you won't miss any of your favourite shows again.
Third-party VoD love

The BBC has decided that it is to become a hub for VoD content from other broadcasters. Essentially on its BBC online homepage it will offer links to ITV Player, 4OD, Click, Demand Five and SeeSaw.

This is a significant step for the UK, offering a space on the web which houses all the significant long-form VoD content you need. Although it will just link out, it is a great move.

This also sounds achingly similar to what Project Canvas will be offering, albeit through set-top boxes in the future.

iPlayer 3 is currently in beta, with a full rollout happening in July. Because of this, some of the social-networking capabilities are not yet available.

If you want to try it out for yourself, go to http://beta.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/.


Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/ ... z0p2R2VOHs

Assuming it doesn't become bloated, I'm all for this :D . I just hope it makes it's way to PS3 and they get rid of the stupid clock in the left hand corner :roll:

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Wed May 26, 2010 12:35 pm
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