iPlayer Tivo Please

iPlayer is great, but really, why am I still having to watch it on my laptop? Why can’t I get it on my TV? Well the good news is that iPlayer _is_ finally going to be available on FreeSat in 2010! Hurrah! Of course Digital Cable services (e.g. Virgin Media) have already been enjoying the iPlayers, not just from the BBC but also 4OD and ITV iPLayer as well, for some time now … I guess we’ll never get it on my current Freeview setup though!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8343350.stm

BUT, the big question is – will others follow suit? Will Apple TV finally stop requiring everything to be done through iTunes and allow access to iPlayer-type Apps? It already lets you play YouTube for heavens sake! If Apple don’t go for it will there be Web based TIVO-type box that will integrate with online services such as Tioti.com. I always loved the interface on TIVO – wouldn’t it be great if you could set up your preferences and set it off for a trawl of the internet to download everything you want so that you can watch whenever you like ON YOUR TV… if it isn’t already out there, you can bet you’ll see something like it appearing in 2010 and becoming mainstream (without any tedious hacking or workaround apps!) And yes I do want to watch it on a TV – I don’t like watching things of any length on a laptop, far less my iPhone. My favoured position for enjoying video media is flat out on the couch, about 10ft away from the screen, with a glass of wine / cup of tea on my chest and let’s face it probably snuggled up against a cushion … all of which are just not possible when you have a laptop balanced on your lap!

As early as September 2009, the Sony PS3 has had a BBC iPlayer feature … and that probably means the X-Box won’t be far behind (although talks have hit a ‘stumbling block’ with the BBC apparently!) Anyway, with any luck, the mainstream will have adopted & integrated most of the broadcasted major iPlayers by the end of Spring 2010. But will I really get my ‘TIVO-like’ functionality where I can just dial in some preferences and it will go and record things I might like to watch from anywhere – iPlayers, Digital TV channels, YouTube, You name it?

In the absence of such a device, I guess that means I’m probably going to need to get a new gaming console to go with the HD TV (thus integrating a Blu-Ray player and an iPLayer in one fell swoop!) Apparently it’s not that difficult to set it up as a PVR as well … and of course I get a gaming console back into my life. I’m sure the wife won’t mind!