Interesting interview regarding BBC IPlayer and Android

Flash was pre installed onto most Android phones, so technically you always needed 2 apps to run iPlayer. The idea behind the BBC MP is that any BBC site/app can use it, otherwise it would have been bundled into just one app with iPlayer.

The quality of video is something im not totally sure about
 
Love how some people here would like to think they know better than the man who is head of mobile development at the BBC, yea, cause I'm sure he's got it wrong, pretty sure he knows the ins and outs of the problems that seem apparent on Droid.
 
cu3ed said:
Love how some people here would like to think they know better than the man who is head of mobile development at the BBC, yea, cause I'm sure he's got it wrong, pretty sure he knows the ins and outs of the problems that seem apparent on Droid.
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Well he's not going to say "We've done a pretty crappy job on Android" is he. You only have to look at Sky Go or even TV Catchup to see what is possible.
 
Ah yes, Sky Go. The thing that up until recently only worked on about two handsets, and still rejects root.

Great example :D
 
cu3ed said:
Love how some people here would like to think they know better than the man who is head of mobile development at the BBC, yea, cause I'm sure he's got it wrong, pretty sure he knows the ins and outs of the problems that seem apparent on Droid.
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Actually he isn't head of mobile development, there is no such role. DD is in charge of On-demand, iplayer and red button are the headline products.
 
Rusty! said:
Ah yes, Sky Go. The thing that up until recently only worked on about two handsets, and still rejects root.

Great example :D
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It is a great example. Launch the app with some initial devices (it was actually 7 launch devices of which covered a massive percentage of Android users) then improve device support later on. The only moan I'd have with it is the lack of tablet support.

And of course it doesn't allow root, what a silly thing to say.
 
Em3bbs said:
It is a great example. Launch the app with some initial devices (it was actually 7 launch devices of which covered a massive percentage of Android users) then improve device support later on. The only moan I'd have with it is the lack of tablet support.

And of course it doesn't allow root, what a silly thing to say.
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So only 7 devices in the entire Droid line up!?
And no Tablet version!?

And that a good example in your eyes?... just because YOU have a phone that it works on doesn't mean its good.
 
I'll try and write a bit clearer.

- It was seven devices when it launched nearly a year ago (not 2 as suggested). There are loads of devices supported now from Samsung, HTC, Sony and LG. 14 new devices were added last week alone. As an example I just worked out I have 10 devices here in front of me and it works on 8 of them (doesn't work on a couple of low end phones I have).

- I didn't say 'no tablet support' - just a lack of supported tablets.
 
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BBC Sport has launched a free mobile application for iPhone and iPod touch devices in the UK......

Other features, including video highlights, will be introduced soon; as will a version for Android.
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Any one tried it yet?
 
Originally Posted by Daniel Danker
Background audio, for example. When you leave the app you want the Today programme to keep on running. That worked out of the box on Apple, but not on Android.
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I don't understand why background audio is so hard to implement. Every other audio app I use manages this just fine - Play Music, PlayerPro, Beyondpod, TuneIn Radio, FM Radio, etc. Why iPlayer can't play audio without the screen being on and it being the active app seems bizarre to me.
 
reefoid said:
I don't understand why background audio is so hard to implement. Every other audio app I use manages this just fine - Play Music, PlayerPro, Beyondpod, TuneIn Radio, FM Radio, etc. Why iPlayer can't play audio without the screen being on and it being the active app seems bizarre to me.
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Could be something to do with playing video? Perhaps the audio and video come down as one so they can't decode the audio without decoding the video and it is that which is causing a technical challenge.
 
"advanced video"??

I've never heard of this before, can anyone offer any actual evidence as to why there are hundreds of apps out there that can stream very good quality video to devices like the S2 and even single core devices like the Desire HD but BBC can't?

Bearing in mind you can also play HD flash videos on these devices.
 
I'd also like to know why it possible for the developer of My Player to create a brilliant app that allowed streaming and downloading of Iplayer streams on wifi or 3g, worked perfectly with video and audio, allowed background audio if you just wanted to listen to something rather than watch it etc. Worked on all kinds of different handsets and was generally brilliant...

And the BBC stopped him and gave us something which is a dramatic step down and has never managd to get anywhere near the quality of app that a third party lone coder managed?
 
I forgot about the My Player app, good times indeed.

Also lol I just remembered who Guy Goma was, took me over a week to get that joke.
 
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