BBC+ is a new iOS and Android app that delivers personalized BBC content
Over the years, the BBC has created a huge number of apps and websites to showcase the various services it offers. If you're interested in a range of BBC content, you've probably found that you have to jump from app to app and website to website. BBC+ aims to change all that.
BBC+ is a new app from the corporation that’s available for iOS and Android. This is one of the first apps built using the newly-developed Mobile Application Framework (MAF) and it gives BBC fans the opportunity to create a personalized collection of the content most relevant and interesting to them -- news, weather, TV and more.
Microsoft uses BBC Micro Bit and virtual reality to prepare autistic kids for jobs
Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning not all people that meet the classification have identical behaviors. Some of these folks are very functional, while others may struggle more to socialize, or not be able to hold jobs.
According to Microsoft, 85 percent of those with Autism do not hold full-time employment. This is unfortunate, as some of those with the classification are likely falling through the cracks -- capable of work, but not equipped. Luckily, the Windows-maker, in association with CASPA and Dennis Publishing, is aiming to change this with some unlikely tools -- the BBC Micro Bit and HTC Vive virtual reality solution.
BBC introduces a family-friendly iPlayer Kids app
Children enjoy watching streaming video, but a lot of content out there really isn’t suitable for them. This is why Google introduced YouTube Kids, a curated, family-friendly version of the video streaming site.
Following in YouTube’s footsteps, the BBC is today rolling out a version of iPlayer aimed at younger viewers which cleverly filters available content based on the age of the child.
The 'free ride' of BBC iPlayer viewing is over as license fee loophole is to be closed
Watch TV in the UK -- be it through an aerial, cable, or satellite -- and you have to pay for a TV license. The official line is that you need a TV license "if you watch or record programmes as they're being shown on TV or live on an online TV service" and this has long-meant that anyone time-shifting their viewing by watching shows on BBC iPlayer have been able to do so for free. This is set to change.
Having waxed lyrical about the threat of adblockers to the web, UK culture secretary John Whittingdale turned his attention to the BBC's streaming services. He plans to close a loophole that has permitted people without a TV license to watch non-live shows on iPlayer without paying a fee and -- more importantly -- without breaking the law. He says that this is 'wrong' and wants to bring the 'free ride' to an end.
End of an era as pioneering BBC3 becomes an online-only station
13 years ago, BBC3 launched in the UK. Last night, the TV station broadcast over the airwaves for the last time. In a bid to slash expenditure, the youth-oriented channel that launched countless comedy careers is now only available online.
The likes of Being Human, The Mighty Boosh, Gavin and Stacey, and the like will live on, but only on the web -- which the BBC is spinning as an opportunity to be freed from the constraints of regular scheduling. The change has been known about for some time now, and there have been a number of campaigns and petitions to try to get the BBC to change its mind.
BBC was hit with the biggest-ever DDoS attack
There’s a good chance that the recent DDoS attack against the BBC was the biggest one, yet. That depends on whether the hackers behind the attack are exaggerating or not.
According to a CSO Online report, the hackers claimed the attack on the BBC website, which occurred on New Year’s Eve, reached 602Gbps. If that turns out to be true, that will be almost twice the size of the current biggest attack which sits at 334Gbps.
The BBC Store opens its doors for digital boxset downloads
Today the BBC launched a new online store where its back catalog of programming can be found. Featuring classics such as Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Orphan Black, the BBC Store provides a way to buy digital copies of your favorite shows... if you're in the UK, at least.
At the moment the store includes around 7,000 hours of viewing, but more of the BBC archive will be added over time -- and there are more than four million items for the corporation to add. Although the store is run by the license fee-funded BBC, content is not free of charge. Box sets start at around £8, while one-offs can be bought for much less.
BBC starts to block VPN users from accessing iPlayer
Streaming video services are frequently tied to specific countries and steps are taken to prevent people in other parts of the world using them. This is nothing new, and there has been something of an on-going battle between service providers and users who try to find a way around any blocks that may be put in place.
Now the BBC is going to war, and it has VPNs in its sights. VPNs are frequently used by those outside of the UK to view programmes on BBC iPlayer -- but they are also used by security-conscious users. But the BBC is not concerned about the security side of things, just that the tools can be used to bypass geo-restrictions. TorrentFreak reports that UK-based VPN servers are now detected and blocked.
BBC iPlayer Radio hits one million downloads
People still want downloadable music and radio programs, despite the surge in popularity of streaming services, as the BBC has found out. Its iPlayer Radio service has just reached the milestone of one million program downloads.
"We knew from the success of our Podcast service that there was a demand to download BBC radio and music content to listen to whenever they wanted," Andrew Scott of BBC Digital told Digital Spy. The download functionality was added to the on-demand service less than a month before the figures were compiled.
BBC officially releases Doctor Who episodes on BitTorrent
Although BitTorrent’s reputation is as a means to download music and movies illegally, the company is trying to change that by offering original, and legal content via paid "bundles". It scored a success in 2014 when it released Radiohead’s Thom Yorke's new album in this way, and later in the year it will be debuting its first original television series, Children of the Machine.
But today BitTorrent announces a really impressive coup -- the BBC has agreed to put out an official digital Doctor Who box-set via the file sharing network.
BBC Micro Bit is a free Raspberry Pi alternative for kids
It’s no secret that the Raspberry Pi has its roots in the microcomputers of the 1980s. And one device in particular inspired the creation of the massively popular barebones system -- the BBC Micro. Auntie Beeb’s computer was available in two models -- A, and B -- as is the Raspberry Pi.
Interestingly, while the BBC Micro inspired the Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi has now inspired a new BBC Micro -- the Micro Bit.
BBC iPlayer for Android promises ban on buffering, adds Audio Described category
Fans of the Beeb will be pleased to hear that the BBC has unveiled a significant new update to its catch-up app for Android users with the release of BBC iPlayer 4.4 for Android. The app adds a new Audio Described category and expands the current Most Popular category too.
Other changes see the promise of better streaming performance and a number of minor bug fixes.
BBC to fight censorship with a 'right to be remembered' list of articles removed from Google
The BBC will publish a list of all its articles that are removed from Google under the "right to be forgotten" law that was controversially implemented earlier on this year.
Editorial policy head David Jordan told a Google-hosted public forum that the BBC thinks a number of its articles have been erroneously taken down and that in the "next few weeks" it will publish a list of the URLs that have been removed from Google.
BBC iPlayer for iOS and Android gets major new redesign, makes content easier to find
UK telly addicts rejoice: the BBC has unveiled a major redesign of its mobile app with the release of BBC iPlayer 4.0 for iOS and BBC iPlayer 4.0 for Android. Both apps have been updated with the specific intent of making browsing and show discovery easier.
This has been achieved by creating new Home, Channel and Category pages, all of which sport a new design optimized for either portrait or landscape view.
BBC partners with streaming sites to launch Playlister
You know how frustrating it can be when you hear a track on the radio or TV and miss the announcement that tells you what it's called? With the public beta launch of its new Playlister tool the BBC aims to offer a solution to that problem.
Using Playlister you can tag tracks from across the BBC's web services which will be saved to a personal playlist. Once you've created a list you can export it as a PDF or print it out, but more usefully you have the option to export the list to Spotify, Deezer or YouTube so that you can stream the tracks. Other services are expected to be added in future.
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