The BBC has launched a new HTML 5 version of its iPlayer for Sony’s PlayStation 3.
The new version includes a revised screen layout, specially designed for the living room, to “give audiences the control they want directly on the TV".
You can now flick through channels at the same time you’re watching TV, use the improved search functionality to find programmes faster and more easily, as well as personalising iPlayer with your favourite programmes.
Though it makes its debut on the PS3, the new iPlayer will be coming to more connected TV devices over the next few months.
Daniel Danker, BBC’s general manager, programmes & on demand, said: “BBC iPlayer has been tremendously successful. With today’s announcement, we’re transforming iPlayer in its most natural home: on the living room TV.”
BBC iPlayer can now be accessed via more than 300 connected TV devices, including games consoles, Freeview HD and Freesat HD set-top boxes, internet TVs, Blu-ray players, and pay-TV platforms such as Virgin Media and BT Vision.
The number of iPlayer programmes requested via connected TVs has gone up by more than 500 per cent from December 2010 to July 2011, with 579,000 requests rising to 3.1 million in July.