BBC iPlayer App not coming to Windows Phone 7 or 8 until OS is “Fixed”

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The BBC has come out and stated that the likelihood of the BBC iPlayer live streaming App coming to the Windows Phone 7 operating system I very poor as the WP7 OS “uses technologies unlike those used on any other platform”.

The BBC’s Daniel Danker, General Manager or BBC Programmes & On Demand has written an open email to the creators at the phone OS and has stated that putting together a BBC iPlayer App for the windows smartphone is just too costly thanks to almost all of the software being bespoke.

The main issue is the lack of support for HTTP Live Streaming on the Windows Phone 7 OS and Mr. Danker confirmed to that HLS is not the proprietary format it’s believed to be, used on a wide variety of devices including Smart TVs and consoles, but is not included in the WP7 mobile OS.

Then iPlayer app has been long-awaited on Windows Phone 7 since the OS went live last year, but the App has never come. Now we know that it it because Microsoft uses different technologies to Apple and Android, which the BBC can’t reuse on other platforms and therefore cannot afford to make a bespoke application for a limited Software run.

Remembering that all of the BBC’s money comes from the UK taxpayers so wasted time is wasted money that we have paid for!

Microsoft has come back and stated that they were optimistic that a solution might arrive for the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system which is set to be released on October 26^th, but until a solution is made the BBC will not even look at developing an app for any Windows-powered handset.

So it looks like users will just have to get used to no iPlayer on the Windows phone.

Source: WMPowerUser, WP Central

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