BBC iPlayer downloads coming to Mac and Linux

The BBC iPlayer's download function will soon be coming to Linux and Macs, thanks to a deal between Auntie and Adobe.

According to Erik Huggers, the BBC's director of future media and technology, the BBC is already working on a platform-neutral download client with a release expected before the end of the year.

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Writing on the BBC Internet blog, Huggers said: "Using Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), we intend to make BBC iPlayer download functionality available on Mac, Linux and Windows for the first time later this year."

However, the Beeb's downloadable content will come with strings attached: content for all platforms will include DRM.

The BBC has already made available over the air iPlayer downloads for the Nokia N96 and expects more mobiles to have the functionality soon.

iPlayer content can also be sideloaded from PCs to Windows Media-supporting devices following an announcement earlier this month.

However, according to Huggers, getting content on "a wide variety of devices" is still too difficult for Joe Public and depends too much on the vagaries of device makers - a problem the Beeb is already looking into.

"I have asked BBC Research to explore whether we should create/drive an open industry standard for IP-delivered Media On The Go. There is no fixed timeline for the delivery of Research's results at present," Huggers wrote.