The BBC iPlayer lets you watch BBC programmes from the past week. Now a newer version of BBC iPlayer for Mac and Linux computers, lets these users stream and download BBC programmes.
Currently if you are in the UK and connected to the internet you can play programmes from the past seven days and watch them on the website through Click to Play (streaming). This now works on Windows, Macs, Linux, Nintendo Wii and iPhones. You can also download TV programmes and store them on your computer for up to 30 days if your computer supports the BBC iPlayer Download Manager. However, if you are outside the UK and connected to the internet you can listen live and listen again to most of the BBC radio programmes only.
The new version of the iPlayer has been written with Adobe’s AIR technology which aims to make it possible to create applications that can be downloaded to your computer, rather than just embedded in browser web pages as is possible with the widely used Flash software. BBC iPlayer has been available for a long time for use with Microsoft’s Windows XP as it used Microsoft’s digital rights management (DRM) system to enforce viewing restrictions.
Those who want to try the new version can get a trial version from BBC iPlayer Labs, an areas where you get to play with new ideas and features that we’re working on. BBC iPlayer Desktop is currently only available to BBC iPlayer Labs testers.