4oD, iPlayer, ITV.com all working on Vista

Today’s adventure involved trying to get different UK networks online offerings working with Vista. And I am happy to report that I managed to get ITV.com, 4oD and the BBC’s iplayer believing that I was using a machine running Windows XP, and successfully download and watch programming. It involved downloading a utility to make your IE7 browser (eeurgh) report itself to certain websites as IE6. If anybody wants to know more, leave a message in the comments and I will send you in the right direction.

UK broadcasters unite to create video on demand solution

It is almost as if they read my post yesterday and took immediate action. UK broadcasters have today decided to work together to create a joint offering that allows viewers to download copies of their favourite shows to their PC’s. With a working title of Project Kangaroo, it is not yet known how this application will work alongside the existing download services available from the UK networks.

although initially a broadband proposition, the application would one day be installed in freeview boxes, and work much in the same way as BT Vision does today, delivering content over the the old copper wire, and maybe one day fibre optics if BT get their act together. Stay tuned for more developments… or maybe this is a knee-jerk reaction to a loss of viewers to Bittorrent, Youtube and the internet in general, and nothing will come of it. Only time will tell.

BBC iPlayer

Today the BBC trust approved the Beeb’s plans for the iPlayer. This fancy bit of software will let you catch up on any show for the next 7 days, and even download and store them for a reasonable period of time, you all know the rest by now. Really exciting developments that I believe will change TV for the better, with more people more willing to catch a show they missed because of their hectic life, or a scheduling conflict, or some such.

My only gripe is a personal one, as a mac user. One of the changes imposed on them by the trust was to make the iPlayer available to those not using a Microsoft operating system in “a reasonable time frame”, thought to be two years. Yesterday a BBC spokesman said they may not be able to do that, with their plans to roll the software out on cable boxes first, then other operating systems, but that depends more on the third parties involved.

I would love a bit of iplayer action, but I’ll be damned if I have to use Windows or join Virgin Media to get it before 2010.

All aboard the “On Demand” bandwagon..

Virgin, Sky and BBC all trying to get closer to their viewers. Last week Sky launched their “Anytime” product to consumers. The problem with satellite is that it is impossible to provide proper “on-demand” services, due to bandwidth restrictions. So Sky have tried to circumvent that in the past with things like multi-start a with the next best thing.