Friday 11 April 2008

iPlayer

The hugely successful iPlayer has been in the news this week; turns out some of the major ISPs think that the beeb should contribute to their increasing development costs. This is due to a staggering 42 million shows being downloaded since Christmas, when it was launched. On top of this, Ofcom has estimated ISPs will need to invest £800m in order to keep up with the growing demand for video. I'd have to defend the BBC on this one; it would be ridiculous to demand they pick up the bill. UK TV license owners fund the majority of the BBC whilst most ISPs in the UK are part of global multinationals. You don't find them demanding contributions from YouTube and Amazon who arguably account for much more traffic on the net. On top of this, the BBC would have no control of how these contributions would be spent.

BBC have also announced this week that they will bringing their iPlayer to the similarly successful Nintendo Wii...head here. No such luck for owners of other next-gen consoles; the BBC have said that agreements have not been made between Microsoft and PS3...yet. Speculation is also growing around Apples next iPhone, rumoured to be released this summer. Nike have announced they will be bringing their Nike+ system to the phone...read up here.

Finally, head here to download a brilliant Dolly Parton/Jungle Brothers mashup. It's better than it sounds!

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