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BBC and Google take you under the sea in VR
It's easier to appreciate nature when you witness it first-hand, but that's rather difficult with the ocean unless you have a submarine at your disposal. The BBC and Google have a more practical solution: they've launched a BBC Earth: Life in VR app that illustrates the underwater ecosystem on Daydream View headsets and compatible phones. You can explore environments ranging from kelp forests to deep sea trenches, and life as large as whales or as tiny as plankton.
People aren’t happy with the BBC’s big weather redesign
Today, the BBC is launching a major redesign of its popular weather forecast services — and some Brits are furious. It all started in 2015 when the broadcaster announced it was ditching the Met Office and looking for a new provider of accurate weather data. MeteoGroup was eventually crowned the winner and work began to overhaul the technical architecture underpinning the BBC's much-loved TV bulletins, mobile apps and website. The new web and mobile designs were rolled out to "some users" last month and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. On a blog post written by the BBC's Michael Burnett, one user commented: "You seemed to have ruined what was a superb site with a wealth of information."
BBC decides it won’t shut down its popular recipe site after all
Back in the spring of 2016, the BBC announced it would be axing various periphery websites and apps in an effort to save £15 million in upkeep costs. One of the items on the chopping block was recipe site BBC Food, the news of which sparked a public backlash and petition to save it, reminiscent of the campaign that kept Radio 6 Music on air the previous decade. In reaction to this, the BBC was quick to clarify the catalogue of over 11,000 recipes would remain accessible through the Good Food site, the online complement to the print magazine of the same name, run by commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Whether the recipes would be easily searchable and filterable by ingredient, chef and programme, as well as what was to happen to other handy features like video tutorials, was unclear. But these questions no longer need answering, as the broadcaster has now confirmed BBC Food is going nowhere, and will remain online and updated just as you've always known it.
After Math: Merry Christmas, you filthy animals
It's been a wondrous week working up to Christmas Eve and not just for the guys with the Tommy Guns. Alamo Drafthouse announced it is starting a rental store and loaning out rare VHS, Protera is going to wake up tomorrow with an order for 25 of its electric buses under the tree, and Google is practically giving away its digital movie rentals. Numbers, because how else will you know how many gold rings you've got coming?
Watch the trailer for Hulu's apocalyptic cop drama 'Hard Sun'
Hulu and the BBC have been cooking up a TV show this year, and they're now ready to show their creation to the world. The two have released the first trailer for Hard Sun, a "pre-apocalyptic" cop drama. The six-episode series stars Agyness Deyn (Clash of the Titans) and Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas) as officers who come across secret info revealing that a disastrous "extinction level event" could wipe everyone out within 5 years. Needless to say, it's not exactly the feel-good hit of the year: there's conspiracy, interpersonal tension and an overall sense that the world is about to collapse.
BBC launches Alexa skill for live radio and podcasts
Every BBC radio station and podcast is now accessible through Amazon's Alexa assistant. So if you have an Echo or Echo dot in your home (or any Alexa-enabled speaker, for that matter), you can now launch Radio 1, 6 Music, or an episode of Desert Island Discs with your voice. The new Alexa "skill" offers granular control too, including "play," "pause" and "resume." You can also skip back to the "previous" episode of a podcast at any time.
The BBC will teach school kids how to spot fake news
Social networks and search engines are trying all manner of tactics to help users identify fake news, from flagging trusted publishers to relying on readers to spot misinformation. A new initiative from the BBC, however, wants to teach kids how to spot fake news for themselves, instead of relying on the front pages of the internet to do it for them. From March next year, the BBC will begin sending reporters to secondary schools and events, as well as release digital resources, to encourage teenagers to think critically about what they read online.
BBC launches VR division with ISS spacewalk experience
The BBC is getting serious about VR content production. Today, the broadcaster has released a spacewalk experience and formally announced a VR team that will work with filmers, showrunners and "digital experts" on new pieces. Home — A VR Spacewalk was developed by the BBC and digital production studio Rewind for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift last year. It's based on NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) training programs — yes, the same ones used by astronaut Tim Peake — and takes you through a repair on the outside of the ISS. It's been shown at various film festivals but hasn't been available to the public before today.
BBC iPlayer to host a ton of TV box sets this Christmas
Nippy mornings and early sunsets. The British winter is here, bringing with it the perfect weather for TV bingeing. For many, that means Netflix, Now TV and Amazon Video, however this year the BBC is embracing the box set culture too. A huge collection of programming will soon return to iPlayer, including the first three seasons of Peaky Blinders, the Tom Hardy drama Taboo and the Golden Globe-winning Wolf Hall. The BBC is also adding crime hit Line of Duty, Happy Valley and a bunch of modern Sherlock, including season three, four and the 2016 special, The Abominable Bride.
A lost 'Doctor Who' episode featuring Tom Baker is finally here
Doctor Who fans have waited nearly four decades for today. Shada -- an episode that began filming in 1979 with Tom Baker as the legendary Time Lord -- is finally finished and available to download (a DVD will be released in the UK on December 4th, and in the US on January 9th). An animated segment and a new scene were produced to fill in the footage gaps, both of which feature Baker reprising his role as the Doctor. To add to the prestige, the episode was also written by Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams.
Interactive fiction for smart speakers is the BBC's latest experiment
Smart home speakers have quickly become the hot gadget people didn't know they wanted. They can answer your movie trivia questions, call a cab, turn your heating on and do your shopping for you. They're gaining new features every day, but are more than just a utility product. These speakers are a ripe platform for all kinds of screen-free entertainment, and I'm not just talking about streaming a Spotify playlist. Earplay is a popular Alexa skill that tells interactive stories, for example, and never one to be late to a fledgling medium, the BBC has taken note. In one of its many experiments outside the bread and butter of broadcast TV, the BBC is releasing its first immersive audio tale today: The Inspection Chamber.
BBC to stream 1,000 extra hours of live sport each year
The BBC continues to reduce the amount of public money it spends, it's led to some notable sporting events being cut from its programming. It's already been forced to drop the rights to big-name British golfing tournaments, Formula 1 and perhaps the most prestigious global sporting event of all: the Olympics (although it has since agreed a sub-licencing deal with Discovery-owned Eurosport). Instead, the corporation has focused on sports that it believes are most valuable to licence fee payers, including Wimbledon tennis and Six Nations rugby. Expanding that commitment, the BBC today announced "its biggest increase of live sport in a generation," confirming that will add 1,000 extra hours of live sport to the BBC Sport and iPlayer websites each year.
The BBC is turning to AI to improve its programming
The BBC wants to leverage machine learning to improve its online services and the programmes it commissions every year. Today, the broadcaster announced a five-year research partnership with eight universities from across the UK. Data scientists will help the best and brightest at the BBC set up the "Data Science Research Partnership," tasked with being "at the forefront of the machine learning in the media industry." It will tackle a range of projects not just with the BBC, but media and technology organisations from across Europe. The larger aim is to take the results, or learnings, and apply them directly to the BBC's operations in Britain.
BBC iPlayer Radio now plays nice with Carplay and Android Auto
For many, BBC radio is synonymous with driving. When you're stuck in a traffic jam, holiday road trip or boring post-work commute, sometimes the best company is a never-ending playlist punctuated with cheerful DJ chatter. For the longest time, that's meant FM airwaves, but now of course you can use the iPlayer Radio app too. Today, the BBC is going one step further with support for Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto platforms. If you have a compatible in-car entertainment system, or don't mind sticking your Android phone to the dashboard, you can now use these large, touch-friendly interfaces while you're out on the road.
Ofcom orders BBC to show more original British productions
Ofcom has told the BBC it needs to show more programming developed inside Britain. The new rules, part of a revamped operating licence, will require the broadcaster to show at least 75 percent original content on BBC One, Two and Four. From 6 to 10:30pm, or peak hours, that figure will rise to 90 percent on BBC One and Two. The change will effectively ban the BBC from showing movies and TV series bought from international broadcasters during the evening. Instead, the organisation will have to rely on BBC commissions to retain and grow its audience share at night.
‘Robot Wars’ returns on October 22nd
Of course, Robot Wars is coming back for another season. The show's revival in July 2016 was a huge success, reminding everyone how much fun it is to watch homemade robots smash each other to bits. Season nine debuted in March and Season 10, the BBC has announced today, will start on Sunday, October 22nd at 8pm on BBC Two. There will be new teams, of course, as well as some updated rules. The new trailer hints at a "Fog of War" hazard, which engulfs competitors in a thick mist, as well as a 10-robot battle royale mode. The latter sounds like total carnage, especially if Sir Killalot and the rest of the house robots are allowed to get involved...
BBC is putting hundreds of classic TV programmes on iPlayer
Over the years, the BBC has amassed an impressive trove of classic TV and radio programming. Accessing it all can be tricky, however, because iPlayer has always been positioned as more of a catchup service. Some series are available permanently, but most, especially older shows, are not. You normally have to buy them digitally, on DVD or Blu-ray, or hope they're accessible somewhere on the BBC website. Not anymore. The BBC is launching a section on iPlayer called 'From the Archive,' which, as the name implies, will be a home for BBC classics. Roughly 450 programmes are available at launch, with more being added "in the coming years."
Alexa and Google Assistant star in BBC's interactive radio plays
The BBC is making a new kind of theater that works with your domestic voice assistant -- and makes you part of the show. The company's R&D department has collaborated with Rosina Sound to make a radio play that invites you, the listener, to insert your own lines when cued. And, in true British radio tradition, the story (titled The Inspection Chamber) will be a science fiction audio drama-comedy in the vein of Douglas Adams and Franz Kafka.
BBC Three to stream six weeks of Gfinity esports coverage
A couple of years ago, the BBC decided to stream the League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals in London. The live, online-only coverage was clearly an experiment designed to test the appetite of viewers and the feasibility of regular broadcasts. Now, the BBC is back with a weekly schedule of Gfinity esports coverage. Starting tonight (July 28th) at 9pm, BBC Three will stream Street Fighter V on Fridays, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Saturdays and Rocket League on Sundays. The partnership only runs for six weeks, however, which like before suggests this is a trial-run for a more permanent block of programming.
BBC's latest app is a home for its VR experiments
The BBC is forever playing around with new forms of storytelling, but its many experimental projects can be hard to keep track of. A 360-degree video might be published on YouTube and Facebook, for example, while an animated VR tale might launch first on the Oculus Rift before being ported into a standalone mobile app. Bookmarking the BBC Taster website is one way to keep tabs on what's new, but now the broadcaster has launched an iOS and Android app to make its projects more visible and easily accessible on smartphones.
