PS3 owners game iPlayer
'Wii want BBC streaming too'
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Less than 24 hours after the BBC gave great fanfare to its new iPlayer streaming service for Nintendo Wii at a media conference in France, jealous Playstation enthusiasts had used it to cobble together a version of their own.
An enterprising coder known as Ixalon has created an unofficial site that spoofs the Wii's user agent and manipulates the iPlayer site's JavaScript and CSS so UK owners of the PS3 can get in on the catch-up action.
It uses the Flash 7 streams specially transcoded by the Beeb for Wii owners. Although the codec used by Flash 7 is inferior to that used by the PC web streaming iPlayer, the bitrate has been upped so that the quality is the same. The project's supremo Anthony Rose has more details here.
Playstation owners can visit their new own brand iPlayer site here. Although it was already possible to view iPlayer via the console's browser, it involved much more effort than visiting a URL.
We couldn't get hold of anyone at the BBC today to comment on the development.
However, it's unlikely to cause as much of a flap as the news that the H.264 streams for iPhone can be easily grabbed for keeps as a DRM-free download. The corporation's contracts with its TV production partners (and BBC Worldwide's desire to exploit inhouse shows via DVD sales) insist iPlayer downloads only last 30 days.
Nintendo, meanwhile, might be a bit miffed its crown as the first living room platform for the iPlayer lasted all of one day, but the BBC's stated aim is to deliver streaming to as many devices as possible.
Ixalon called on them to hurry up with the PS3 implementation. "It only took a day to produce, so come on BBC - how about implementing this properly?" he wrote. Auntie blames Sony. ®
COMMENTS
Re:
Why would i want to download this pitiful useless file with this awful machinery when i can use my 800bjillion HDD octo-core PC to stream this video wirelessly via gold-coated gas stream straight to my 480inch tv making full use of my 12gig internet connection?! All of this of course compensating for my tiny penis..
@glenn
And of course the PS3 can do the same, via the same method.
I have SkyHD, but on occasion forget to record something (and Sky Anytime is total pants), so iPlayer is a very handy 7 day catchup
@mark
Why would i be worried that my 360 can't stream iplayer content when my 16mb adsl connection can download the programs in 5 or 6 mins, which i can then watch in the comfort of my lounge via the xbox 360 (with no excessive noise as there's no disc spinning)? More to the point why would i need to use my console when i've got sky plus?

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