UPDATED: Unofficial BBC iPlayer on PlayStation 3 Now

Cheeky devs show how iPlayer could work on PS3

Posted by Staff
UPDATED: Unofficial BBC iPlayer on PlayStation 3 Now
UPDATE: SPOnG contacted the developer of the PS3 iPlayer webpage to check he doesn't work for Sony. "Nope, I'm not affiliated with either Sony or the BBC, just a keen user of who was slightly ticked-off by corporate politics getting in the way of bringing the iPlayer to the PS3", we were told.


A webpage has popped up that rather smugly shows us how easily the BBC's iPlayer, which was announced as available for the Wii earlier this week, can be played on the PS3.

An explanation on the page tells us:

"It's mainly a demonstration of how easily the BBC could support the PS3 with their Wii version. This does nothing more than mask your PS3's user-agent string and makes half a dozen changes to make the JavaScript and CSS function correctly on the PS3. It only took a day to produce, so come on BBC - how about implementing this properly?"


You can find it here, although clicking through on your PC or Mac will just get you a message reading, "Sorry, you can only use this unofficial version of the BBC iPlayer on a Sony PLAYSTATION®3 system."

SPOnG checked it on our PS3 browser and can happily report that it works, however.

While clearly the devs behind this are a bit on the smug side, the BBC should probably give them a job. Unless, of course, they already work for Sony...
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Comments

Addnan 11 Apr 2008 16:38
1/7
i think this is excellent, i just watched apprentice on my PS3!!!!!!!!! Lets hope BBC brings out the official version ASAP
DoctorDee 11 Apr 2008 17:07
2/7
I don't see what smug about these "devs". They've done us a service kudos to them.


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Daz 11 Apr 2008 21:01
3/7
BBC through PS3? since when did pressing "1" on a TV remote become such hard work?
irritant 12 Apr 2008 06:12
4/7
Daz wrote:
BBC through PS3? since when did pressing "1" on a TV remote become such hard work?


Being able to Press 1 on a TV remote is obviously a lot easier than being able to understand the difference between watching a live TV broadcast and watching an archived program streamed over the internet.
alexh2o 12 Apr 2008 10:50
5/7
well i gave it a try and its cumbersome and not very good. best wait for the official release...

having said that, i do think that the bbc would be better served working with sony, to add an iplayer link directly on the xmb.
PreciousRoi 12 Apr 2008 14:19
6/7
how do you figure?
alexh2o 12 Apr 2008 21:22
7/7
PreciousRoi wrote:
how do you figure?


just that its quite easy to type in bbc.co.uk on a pc, or even bookmark it, then go full screen flash without the cursor jamming and being permanently displayed. on the ps3 (with the hack) i just found the experience not to a level where i would regularly use the service (as i do on the pc now). plus i think the biggest problem was the quality of the video, ive got the ps3 running in 1080p on a big lcd so the wii version's flash 7 video (that the hack uses) just doesnt cut it. if sony and the bbc worked together and got iplayer streaming h.264 vids like for the iphone/touch with an hdtv navigation interface (ie big buttons), that would be perfect. hell even offer the 30 day download service!
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