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iPlayer trial up and running

  • By Paul Crichton
  • 1 Jun 07, 03:04 PM

Oh happy day! I got my invitation to test out the iPlayer, which is the BBC's catch up service that will be launched to the public at large later this year.

I've successfully installed the iPlayer and got it working. As if it were the ideal case study, I was away at the weekend, so the first thing I thought I would download was Dr Who.

Now, let me make this clear, I've been a fan of David Tennant ever since he appeared in the BBC period drama 'Casanova', so I'm only keeping tabs on his career. The fact I work with the internet and might have geeky tendencies is entirely co-incidental. Cough cough.

Moving swiftly on, the iPlayer works, and Dr Who is downloaded and ready to go. Because the BBC is providing a seven-day catch up service, I had to download it today, as it won't be available much longer. I could have left it in the iPlayer library for 30 days, but having opened the file to watch it, I've now got seven days before the programme expires.

It is interesting seeing how everything we have blogged about in the past has come together. A few weeks ago we wrote a blog about how the iPlayer was tested with a number of screen readers. Well, I tested it with mine, and even though it wasn't one of the screen readers in the trial, I was able to navigate and download programmes using it.

Similarly, the 'display options' tool that we have written about is also available for people to try out. This lets users customise the appearance of the iPlayer to whatever best suits their needs, be it a different colour of background or text, increased text size, or any number of other variations.

But enough of what I think of the iPlayer. You don't want to know about that. Over the next few weeks, I'll be talking to fellow trialists to find out what they make of it. So if you'll forgive the pun, stay tuned in...

Comments Post your comment

Crap! Try being Deaf and trying to source the subtitled programmes. Near impossible.

The accessibility guide says to look at each programme synopsis to check if there's subtitles. The BBC expects me to go through each programme to do this. I kind of gave up before the end.

Where is the access summary on the *front* page, for subtitles and audio description.

btw - whilst I can understand BSL, ironically See Hear is not subtitled.

  • 2.
  • At 11:35 PM on 09 Jun 2007,
  • william roy west wrote:

well its now the 9th june 2007 and I still cant get started in the iplayer trials and have now lost all contact with the team ,the phone call is a waste of time and provides no help at all, very disappointed as I was looking forward to helping the trial
Roy

  • 3.
  • At 07:48 PM on 10 Jun 2007,
  • Joan wrote:

I downloaded dr who family of blood no problem and watched it once - then when I came to watch again a couple of days later I only got and still get the 10 sec BBC intro.

A tad disappointing.

Now I am not able to download anything. I tried dr who Blink which I missed. I get an error 404 page does not exist message.

Ho Hum it's a trial after all and i bet it will be fantastic when the further glitches are resolved.

any advice in the meantime would be welcome. Should I re-install?

  • 4.
  • At 02:01 PM on 12 Jun 2007,
  • Ian wrote:

I can never get anything to download. It just says try again in two minutes or no version of this program is available. Getting annoying, but hey as everyone points out this is a trial

  • 5.
  • At 04:52 PM on 12 Jun 2007,
  • Ric wrote:

Hi Ian, I had a similar problem, uninstalled then reinstalled it, seems to work better. However, it looks like there there were a few days when everything when SNAFU and no one can get programmes for those - programmes now lost to the ether(net)?

  • 6.
  • At 04:20 PM on 13 Jun 2007,
  • usman wrote:

I received log-in details but they do not work !!

i have window vista.

  • 7.
  • At 10:08 AM on 15 Jun 2007,
  • Earthman007 wrote:

Where do I download the iplayer beta from please?

Thanks. Rob

  • 8.
  • At 06:26 PM on 15 Jun 2007,
  • Alison wrote:

Hi I've been sent the details but have no idea how to log into the service - can anyone help? Also what is usernamer - Email address?

  • 9.
  • At 05:19 PM on 17 Jun 2007,
  • Gwyneth Finn wrote:

Hi, I am a trialist with the new iplayer, it has been working fine for 2 weeks, now when I sign in, none of the programmes are available to me, can you please help

  • 10.
  • At 12:48 PM on 25 Jun 2007,
  • Bryan Arnold wrote:

So does it work on the Mac, please?

  • 11.
  • At 04:43 PM on 26 Jun 2007,
  • John Gibson wrote:

Can anyone download and take part in iPlayer trials please? I depend very much on subtitles, and appreciate the BBC's regular use of them with their TV programmes (except for the world news programme on BBC4!). I would especially like to see how well iPlayer handles this side of things!

  • 12.
  • At 10:34 PM on 26 Jun 2007,
  • Peter Gardner wrote:

I'm disappointed that as a Linux user I am excluded from using iplayer.

I am free to choose any brand of TV.
But the BBC mandates that I MUST buy an operating system from Microsoft.

There should be a reduced licence fee as compensation - say £45.50, the same
as the Black and White TV fee.

Alternatively my £135.50 colour TV licence fee should entitle me to a free copy of the necessary Microsoft Operating System.

  • 13.
  • At 10:37 PM on 27 Jun 2007,
  • Walter van der Cruijsen wrote:

I am as some other posters here deeply disappointed that the BBC has chosen MS DRM, and iPlayer will not be available for MS Vista, Mac OS X, Linux or other platforms in the near future but there is no ETA. According to an earlier BBC News article when the trust approved this plan, this could take up to 24 months!

Why? This project has been under development since 2003 and has been piloted since 2005! Is it impossible to find the right developers, engineers and technicians? Why MS DRM? There are also DRM systems that work on all platforms.

I always appreciated the BBC as a fairly open and reliable organisation, but since this decision has been made, I think this has become seriously flawed.

I support the complaint filed to national and EU authorities by the Open Source Consortium (OSC). The BBC should act in the interst of the (British) public and not in the interest of a corporate (American) business.

  • 14.
  • At 03:25 PM on 30 Jun 2007,
  • Euan wrote:

Absolutely disgrace that this service will only work on Windows.

We must pay an American corporation in order to use this service which I have funded through my license fee.

Oh, and there will eventually be a Mac version? Does the BBC even realise there are more desktop Linux users than Mac users in the UK?

Sort it out Beeb, give us a system we can all use.

  • 15.
  • At 07:41 PM on 30 Jun 2007,
  • Gerard wrote:

Don't mean to be rude to the 5 or 6% of people who use anything other than Windoze, but you are in a very small minority - quit whining! In the context of making the content available to the widest number of people as quickly as possible, whilst being able to protect the owners of copyrighted material, a windows release is the obvious choice, every time. Sorry, but it's a fact. If you're smart enough to use Linux you should be able to do the maths...

With regard to the paying American corporations money to access this stuff err, Apple is based where? And just because you can get various flavours of Linux free don't mean everything in life should be.

As a final thought to mull over, whilst contemplating your flames, you could just get a TV (from any manufacturer you like, who knows, there might even be an open-source one out there) and watch this stuff when it's broadcast.. There is even a published schedule so you can see what's on, BEFORE IT'S SHOWN! How easy is that? Then you can video it, DVD-record it, Tivo it HDD record it or even, and I guess this is a long shot, watch it!

  • 16.
  • At 05:43 PM on 28 Jul 2007,
  • dan halbert wrote:

I am paying for this service through my license fee, however I am not allowed to use it because I use an operating system that isn't produced by an American software company.

Is there somewhere I can complain properly to the BBC as I don't think they are spending my license fee very well?

  • 17.
  • At 02:23 PM on 02 Aug 2007,
  • Edwin Mitchell-Finch wrote:

I have installed and logged in to the iPlayer Beta and downloaded my first programme - Ian Rankin's Hidden Edinburgh - but when I come to play the file a window pops up to tell me I do not have the license to play the file!

Not a good start!
Anyone have any ideas?

Ed.

Running onWindows XP Pro SP2.

  • 18.
  • At 10:50 AM on 03 Aug 2007,
  • Phil wrote:

Hmmmm....

installed the iPlayer and have been trying to download a programme for the last 20 minutes. Out of my possible 2Mb download speed it peaks at around 500Kbps but is averaging at about 50Kbps...and my percentage download is still 0%?!

Not impressed so far...

  • 19.
  • At 11:43 AM on 06 Aug 2007,
  • Francis Maxwell wrote:

I have been trying, unsuccessfully,to download and use iPlayer Beta! eventually it takes me to a sign-in screen that doesn't recognise the username and password supplied in the e-mail.What do I do now?!!

  • 20.
  • At 10:16 AM on 17 Aug 2007,
  • Jak Hurley wrote:

iplayer is a joke! why? NO SUBTITLES at all!!!! Come on, 3 years of development, couldn't put the damn subtitle up, COUGH COUGH. Hopeless!

  • 21.
  • At 04:33 PM on 23 Aug 2007,
  • e f waters wrote:

Iplayer certainly does not provide access 2 deaf and hard of hearing people.

On fewer than 1% of downloads which claim to have subtitles, do valid subtitle files get downloaded. (.smi files)

Sometimes empty dummy subtitle files get downloaded, (giving the misleading impression subtitles are available as this causes a subtitle on/off button to appear in iplayer which does nothing)

Sometimes it claims subtitles are booked but nothing happens.

It is also likely their technical staff do not have a clue what the causes are, or if they do they are not saying.

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