BBC iPlayer 2.0: a first look

The iPlayer service has undergone some major changes. Web User's News Editor Ben Camm-Jones takes a look at iPlayer 2.0.

The first thing that you'll notice is that the new iPlayer now puts all of its content together in one unified interface. Radio and television shows are now presented together and if you search a particular category, such as drama, then you'll get results from both radio and TV.

You can also see what the most popular programmes in each category are, and it will remember what you've watched or listened to, allowing you to pick up where you left off if you had to stop halfway through a show.

Visually, though the old iPlayer was hardly an eyesore, it has improved. It has been brought into line with the BBC website's new look and is very much image-led, making it easy to find your way around. In terms of viewing quality, the playback window is 25 per cent bigger at 640 pixels wide as opposed to 512 pixels.

The audio quality for radio programmes has been improved and you can now move forwards and backwards through the programmes as you would with a TV show on iPlayer - gone are the buttons that only allow you to jump back and forward in one and 15 minute intervals.

iPlayer 2.0, as the name suggests, includes many Web 2.0 features such as RSS feeds for every page, so you can be informed when new episodes become available, and better integration capabilities so it can be 'mashed' into other websites and online services.

For the moment, the new iPlayer is a beta version and will be used alongside the current iPlayer. All being well, the BBC expects to officially launch the new-look iPlayer site on 7 July.