iPlayer Comes to Xbox Live

Microsoft has teamed up with the BBC to bring the BBC's popular video on demand service to all Xbox live users, including silver members. This new cooperation between the two institutions now means that the iPlayer service is now available across all major gaming platforms. The service will also be completely compatible with Kinect, you will be able to control the interface with both hand gestures and voice recognition. 

Of this new partnership Danial Danker, BBC General Manager said, 

Xbox is hugely successful in the UK. Given the BBC’s goal to reach its entire audience, I’m particularly excited that the BBC will be bringing iPlayer to all Xbox users at no extra cost as part of Xbox LIVE’s free membership.”

“As we continue our work to make BBC iPlayer as simple as possible, we’re also excited to experiment with natural user interfaces made possible with Kinect, including voice and gesture control. We believe it’s early days for these experiences, but see a great future working with partners such as Microsoft on innovations like these.

The director of Xbox and Entertainment for Microsoft also commented on the new partnership, 

We are delighted that BBC iPlayer is now available on Xbox LIVE. Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the UK and globally last year, while Xbox LIVE is one of the UK’s leading comprehensive VOD entertainment services on TVs. The addition of BBC iPlayer takes the service to the next level. We offer a formidable line-up of the best TV and entertainment – both live and on-demand - from providers such as Sky, Channel 4, Channel 5, Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Blinkbox, MSN, YouTube and many others.

“The way people interact with entertainment content is changing. Xbox LIVE is the only service in the world where you can search, discover and control TV, movies, video and music using voice and gesture via the power and magic of Kinect.