Beeb readies iPlayer app for Nokia N96

Software to support downloading as well as streaming

Hot on the heels of Nokia’s N96 launch announcement, the BBC has confirmed that it’ll soon offer a purpose-built iPlayer application to N96 users.

The software will enable recent BBC TV and radio content to be streamed to the Nokia phone. Although iPlayer is already available as a streaming service to iPhone and iPod Touch users, the BBC said its Nokia N96 collaboration is the first time handset users will be able to download shows too.

The BBC’s iPlayer app for the N96 will be available to download for free from 1 October. It’s also expected to come pre-installed on other phones in future.

Nokia’s N96 has a DVB-H TV tuner and supports most common video formats, including MPEG 4, WMV and Flash. Content can be stored on the phone’s 16GB of internal memory and watched back on the 2.8in display.