BBC iPlayer graces BT's Vision BT Vision has expanded its range of on-demand content by bringing BBC iPlayer to the platform. BT Vision Customers already had access to many BBC programmes through the TV Replay service, although full iPlayer integration means this is no longer necessary for BT Vision subscribers. The BT Vision TV Replay utility still …
When I tried BT Vision one of the major stumbling blocks for me was that iPlayer wasn't available. I wasn't interested in any of the content outside of what was available on Freeview, but the box was a very capable PVR and available (at the time) for £30 with no monthly subsription.
What was paticularly annoying was that while iPlayer wasn't available, but BT were happy to charge for BBC content. I was never sure exactly how this fitted in with the whole way the BBC is supposed to work. How on earth could BT charge for BBC content for which we had already paid with our TV licence fee?
And the very fact that the box runs a variant of windows should mean an iPlayer implementation was as easy as an easy thing. So presumably the only reason it wasn't there was that BT wanted to make more money out of BT Vision customers.
...it was out on everyone's Vision box. I got an email a couple of months who to tell me to expect it, and about 3 weeks ago to say it was ready. Like their Homehub updates, they roll it out in stages.
It's not as smooth on playback as the Wii version though - probably because the Windows CE system inside Vision means it's about as powerful as an 8yr-old HP iPaq...
The reason BT didn't tell anyone is that it was being rolled out in stages and they didn't want to antogonise those who had to wait. Very lengthy thread on the subject on the BT forum but I have had my iPlayer via channel 990 for at least a few months now.
For the person asking about quality for me it's at least of the same standard as the rest of the vision content, not sure if it's quite HD but not far off.
Main plus point is that using BTV rather than the PS3 for iPlayer doesn't count towards bandwidth allocation.
Windows CE, on which the BT Vision box is based, has nothing interesting in common with its better known relative.
Last time I checked, BT Vision was one of a very very very very limited number of "set top box" deals which had actually rolled out on Windows CE. I assumed that it had happened at BT because the deal had been arranged at or near CEO level; regardless of any technical merits (or otherwise) of WinCE as a set top box platform, regardless of any problems that may ensue, two glorious leaders had said "make it so", and therefore...
Are there many other examples of WinCE based set top boxes these days?
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