The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

BBC's iPlayer launches Christmas Day

What do you mean you're busy?

See what The Register's experts have to say on application security

The official launch, or "marketing launch", of the BBC's iPlayer is happening on Christmas Day.

A spokeswoman for the Beeb assured us it was a good time to launch because of the all the great content the BBC puts on for Christmas. At least we can all watch the Queen's speech a couple of extra times. The player needs Windows XP or Vista to work, and gives UK residents access to the last seven days of BBC TV content.

The spokeswoman said: "Marketing launch means we'll be trailling the service on TV, radio and posters." She added that the streaming service, for those without Windows XP or Vista, will "hopefully" launch within the next two weeks.

The Beeb's iPlayer project has suffered from controversy over the way it uses Microsoft technology to play content. The corporation hired two ex-Microsoft men, Erik Huggers and Jon Billings, to join its digital media teams. The iPlayer project is led by Anthony Rose, formerly of Kazaa.

The service has been in beta testing since July and busy messageboards reveal some users are having problems with the service. The technical issues pages have 2,984 posts.®

Join our expert panel in discussing application security

Don’t Miss

Win a Samsung C6625!

Reg Lucky Draw Windows Mobile handsets up for grabs

Palm_Pre_001_SMIs your cameraphone an oxymoron?

Pic Review iPhone 3G v iPhone 3GS v Palm Pre

Vulture logo with head phonesWindows 7, Bing and security: Mr Ballmer regrets

Steve hopes Microsoft money can buy your love

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes