News
Nokia N96 to come with BBC iPlayer
Stuart O'Brien Sep 6 2008, 12:01am
The Beeb's bandwidth-eating catch-up TV service has taken its second step into mobile.
Nokia's flagship N96 will support both downloads and streaming audio/video content from the BBC iPlayer.
The N96, which launches in the UK on October 1st, will enable users to access BBC TV or radio programmes from the previous seven days for free over 3G or wi-fi connections (subject to data costs, natch).
However, the iPlayer app won't come bundled on every N96 shipped in the UK (presumably at the behest of an uncooperative operator or two). People who buy one without iPlayer will be able to download it from the BBC website.
It's not the first time iPlayer has been made available on mobile though - the BBC began supporting Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch back in March this year.
Simon Ainslie, managing director at Nokia, said: “The Nokia N96 is going to provide a gateway to quality viewing on the move and will raise the bar for mobile screen and audio entertainment. The enormous success of iPlayer has demonstrated the desire audiences have for accessing programmes at a time and a place that suits them.”
Erik Huggers, director of future media and technology at the BBC, said: "Over the past eight months we have worked tirelessly to ensure BBC iPlayer is available on as many platforms as possible, from the PC and TV to games consoles and mobiles.
"This partnership is critical to ensuring we continue to reach out to audiences wherever they are and allow them to catch-up on their favourite BBC programmes.”
