Nokia N85 now supports BBC iPlayer

The Nokia N85 picks up the iPlayer
The Nokia N85 picks up the iPlayer

The BBC's plans to find as many eyeballs as possible for its iPlayer have led it to the doorstep of the N85, where it has finally knocked hard enough to be let in.

Previously only N96 and iPhone owners were allowed to watch BBC programming over a 3G/Wi-Fi connection, but now the N85 has raised the size of the club.

The BBC has developed a new portal for the iPlayer for mobiles, where users of the Samsung Omnia and the Sony Ericsson C905 and Xperia X1 can head to the BBC iPlayer site and be re-directed accordingly.

More handsets soon

The news was broken on the BBC Internet Blog, where Jon Billings, Head of Technology for the BBC, said that more developments were expected soon.

"A brief update on the Nokia application - we're adding support immediately for the Nokia N85 and we're looking at one or two more future Nokia devices too. Feature-wise, it'll be largely as for the existing N96 offering, with a few minor additions.

"Of course, we won't just be restricting ourselves to just one manufacturer's devices; we are very keen to roll out further BBC iPlayer applications and widgets with other partners and we will continue to keep you informed on our progress."

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.