…but not much more. An new version of the BBC’s mobile iPlayer app is now live on the Play Store, offering two new features — support for phones running Android 4.1 or Google’s “Jelly Bean” version of the code, plus integration with the new BBC Media Player app that was launched recently.
This should free the app from being reliant on Adobe’s Flash Player format for playing its video and audio streams, although it still doesn’t work very well at all (bottom right)…
…and those expecting any other updates will be disappointed. It’s still missing the offline viewing option iOS users received some time ago, there’s no background radio playback and the app’s Back button functionality is still rather confusing, leading to us constantly quitting the app in error.
Hopefully this is just a temporary placeholder update while the PROPER update is being finalised by the BBC, as it’s currently in a shockingly poor state.
The Panasonic Eluga marks the company’s return to the European mobile phone scene years after several years of absence, and it’s come back to us with a moderately high-spec Android model that features a rather stylish, slim case.
The HTC One V is HTC’s third entry in its high-profile new HTC One range, offering a smaller 3.7″ display running on a single-core 1GHz processor. It is is very much the “affordable” option in HTC’s newest Android series, but…
The HTC One S is the piggy in the middle of HTC’s 2012 line-up, offering a 4.3″ AMOLED display inside a very slim and stylish aluminium chassis. The end result is a phone that’s very, very slim and stylish.
HTC’s new quad-core monster, the 4.7″ flagship for 2012 that introduces the Tegra 3 processor to mobile phones, updates HTC’s range to Android 4.0 and brings us the supposedly streamlined version 4.0 of HTC’s Sense user interface.
Sony returns with an all-new mobile design for 2012, pairing a dual-core processor with a 720p display. It’s a lovely phone, but is it enough to end our Samsung and HTC obsession?
LG’s updated Prada phone comes with an absolutely crazy black & white theme, but is it just for fashionable suit wearers who want to make themselves look a bit more interesting?
DTEG
/ October 20, 2012Does it yet support skipping via the progress thumb? Really stupid that previous mobile versions appear not to (unlike the desktop and video console versions), forcing to wait in real time while downloading hugely more potentially chargeable data to get to the bit you want…..
Or have I been missing some hidden feature all this time?
Gary_C
/ October 21, 2012No idea, I can’t get anything to even start playing now :(
DTEG
/ October 22, 2012Amazingly, it works (after a manually triggered 9MB download to get the new delivery platform – surely that should have auto-updated like the rest of the app does?!) and I can indeed now click on the progress bar to quick jump. Hopefully it’s not just me being lucky!
Gary_C
/ October 22, 2012Hmm, I’m sure I updated that Media Player thing a few days earlier, but I’ll give it another go. It’s nice watching a bit of Nigella under the duvet.
Sponge Finge
/ October 21, 2012It’s okay, apparently they’re bringing back the ‘black and white’ TV licence for Android BBC users – a discount for reduced functionality.
Eddie_C
/ October 21, 2012Tried this new version on my tablet (running ICS). It is quick shockingly awful. The BBC Media Player it requires may be dropping Flash, but only in favour of the equally poor and flaky Adobe Air. The UI on a tablet is crude in the extreme, and the video quality makes you nostalgic for the days of RealPlayer. The radio playback won’t work in the background, seems incapable of playing live stations, and provides virtually no programme info. The app is getting a torrent of 1 star reviews and it deserves them.