The BBC has announced a release date of July 27th for its limited open beta of the iPlayer, an application enabling viewers to temporarily download BBC programming to be watched at a later date. While the iPlayer has been in closed beta for some time now, this limited open beta will feature controlled functionality of the iPlayer's tools.
The iPlayer was approved earlier this year for the BBC to continue its development of the application, after a successful testing period. As we mentioned before, the iPlayer is only available for Windows users in the UK, though a Mac version is still in the works. As the iPlayer will be using Microsoft DRM technology to enforce the limited download period for saved programs, a bit of controversy has been raised regarding the omission of open source advocates and Mac users. These issues are being addressed by the BBC as well.
Additional ways in which to view BBC programming within an On Demand system are scheduled to be released by the end of the year. Though the BBC has a deal with YouTube, this is another example of a traditional media company looking to provide its own solution for offering premium content to Internet users.