The BBC is set to release the long awaited iPlayer for iPhone and iPad app by the end of February. According to reports, the news comes just after the company announced cutbacks to their budget and the scrapping of 360 jobs.
According to an article posted on the PaidContent:UK website, the BBC would like to make the iOS application available in time for the departure of the company"s technology director, Erik Huggers, who is leaving to join Intel towards the end of February.
A streaming web version of the iPlayer service is already up and running for iPhone and iPad, offering the user excellent playback quality. iPlayer allows users to catch-up on seven days worth of TV programmes that they may have missed when they were first broadcast.
The iPlayer application on the iOS is likely to do the same job, but in a much improved and easier to operate GUI. The BBC also announced that live TV and radio streaming is set to be included. There is also the possibility that it will allow users to download the TV programmes rather than stream them, to be viewed at a later date, similar to the way that the desktop version of the service works.
The iPlayer application will launch for United Kingdom users only at first, although the BBC have stated that they will release a subscription based service for the rest of the world at a later date. There is currently no news on an Android version.