Well I for one will be surprised and annoyed if the iPlayer functionality, when it finally arrives, doesn't allow the media to be stored on the hard drive.

I recall one of the reasons Freesat was launched is due to poor freeview reception due to geographic location. This geographic location often means broadband is not very fast either.

Streaming iPlayer content of a good enough quality for HD ready TV's (as i'd imagine most people will have) will require a broadband connection beyond what i have out here in the sticks.

For those that argue about copy protection and security of the content the box, the programmers and the BBC are easily all capable of working something out that allows content to be stored on the box but maybe with an expiry date and no way to copy it off the box, other than via SD quality output, which anyone can do on any other platform anyway.

So, if the earlier comment is true i'm going to be disappointed with the iPlayer functionality. If common sense has prevailed it will be a nice implementation that allows me to browse online content and either watch it immediately via streaming of save it to the hard drive for later viewing.

My wife and I probably use the iPlayer on our laptops about once a week to catch up on a program we forgot to record or to watch earlier episodes of a new series we just got into. I would say we are pretty average in our viewing habits and to be able to use an iplayer temporary record feature would be great.

Jono

You have the wrong sort of sticks!

Luckily we're in a remote village with a school, so they upgraded to 8Mb a few years back.

Beta testing expected in September, no accurate public launch give yet, obviously!

Current tests I believe are in-house on single tuner HD units only. Beta testing should be on the full range so would envisage some will have software updates around then.

Here is my confirmation email i today for beta testing.

Lucky Bugger

you'll have to get lots of screen grabs for us less fortunate

Does that mean you will be trialing it on the Humax Foxsat-HDR? Of have you got another box? Its just BBC Iplayer told me that they were not trialling this box?

The questionaire asked what box you had and i put down that i had a Humax Foxsat-HDR

Bighibee

I received that exact same email this afternoon. Can't wait.

Mine is a Humax HDR connected to broadband with a download rate of 5785kbps

Yes I have had the same e-mail and I have a Foxsat HDR

That's two reasons to hate you!

(the first been on the trial)

So it sounds like we all are going to have a long, long, long wait for Humax to resolve the minor issues effecting some and the major issues effecting some others.

Very poor project planning Mr Humax

All held up for some iplayer thingy which only a percentage of users will want or use.

While every humax hdr user has minor niggles e.g. no delete while record, other tuner not being used to load guide.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the iplayer

Automan.

It does doesn't it.
Of course, if the software was sufficiently stable to allow out for a trial by a 3rd party you might think that it was stable enough to release for elective download by customers who are having issues.
Perhaps with some features disabled if necessary.

I also hope they remember/think of testing this new firmware on boxes that do not have their ethernet port connected in case the box looking for a server/ip connection effects its normal performance.

Automan.

I'll try to remember to test that for you when testing the iplayer.

Isn't iPlayer a peer-to-peer service, based on Kontiki? Therefore it relies on people downloading videos which are then stored on a hard-drive and passed onto other people - that reduces bandwidth on the original servers.

So I would imagine the freesat version doesn't participate in the peer-to-peer service in the same way if it's available on freesat devices (non-PVR boxes, TVs) without a hard-drive.

I have very slow and flaky broadband due to being out in the sticks therefore even if it's good enough to allow me to use iPlayer I certainly wouldn't want it to participate in a peer-to-peer system!

Kontiki was abandoned by the BBC and 4oD some time ago, as it was Windows only. Iplayer for computer or other device is now mostly delivered by either HTTP or RTMP (?) with a file wrapper of the appropriate type.

Thanks for that Bob Cat - are you in a position to tell us if the iPlayer functionality allows the storage of the programs on the PVR hard drive?

I totally understand if you cant say and tbh, knowing ahead of time won't make a jot of difference, but all the same it would be nice to know.

Thanks

Jon

Jono,

I have already answered that question a few times: No.

Oh well, thanks for the reply at least!

Guess i haven't got much to be excited about any more then, other than possibly being able to delete whilst something is recording

I do read the majority of posts in this forum but must have missed your previous comments so apologies for asking the same old question.

Jono

Also I assume to be fair the box will also work with the ITV equivalent service?

Automan.

Look, I know a lot (the vast majority) of people on this forum are quite technical, but I want to state the obvious (again) for those that, like me, are not that technical.

Many people may already be able to receive iPlayer and may not realise it. Given that the HDR is not going to store content and is not wireless (so it seems no better than many other methods of access) then one of the following may be of use to some people wanting to obtain iPlayer.

Wii? Needs web-browser software. Wireless, looks a bit "grid like" on my TV, can't (seem to) store stuff. Uses iPlayer "bigscreen" interface, which doesn't do HD (yet).

PS3? Wireless, looks good quality, tiny bit jerky, can't (seem to) store stuff, "bigscreen" interface, no HD (yet).

PC? I have an old 3GHz single core processor PC with 1GB of memory and a simple graphics card stuck under my telly. Obviously, it stores stuff and can play back HD content. Can be wireless.

iPod Touch (and similar)? Using the right Apple component cable I get quite a good picture on a 26" Samsung in the bedroom. Haven't explored any more than that.

I presume there are loads of their are loads of other ways.

I think putting iPlayer on the HDR is a great idea, it will be a good feature for many people who cannot currently access it. But iPlayer (in one form or another) can be accessed through most instruments with web connectivity. For me, given that it won't store content and that I would have to buy some of those LAN plug things to connect back to my router, It won't be replacing my other methods of access. At best, it will add to them.

Teach me to go on holiday at the wrong time, quickly filled in survey when I got back, after querying I got this back.


lets all hope that the trial doesn't need a "further phase".

Amen to that. We've waited long enough as it is.

Where do you fill in this 'survey' ??

Link was sent by email to people who signed up for freesat Market research (filling in diaries of what you watch mainly - I didn't though). There's no point in posting link as it's too late now.