Users can now catch up with BBC programming with an iPhone or iPod Touch. Logo courtesy of BBC.

The BBC has launched a version of the iPlayer, its video-on-demand service, for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, the first time the service has been available on portable devices.

The iPhone and iPod touch are now able to stream shows from the iPlayer website over wi-fi networks – through a deal agreed with wi-fi firm The Cloud to provide all BBC online services for free at its 7,500 hotspots.

Writing on the BBC internet blog, Anthony Rose, Head of Digital Media Technologies, said: “We started with iPhone because it is the device most optimised for high quality video currently available. It displays the BBC iPlayer site and BBC programmes nicely.”

The iPlayer software currently comes in two versions – a  program which allows users to download programmes to their Windows PC and a streaming version on the web available to all users.

Rose continued: “The challenge is to continuously enhance that transcoding platform to support a whole host of new formats to make BBC iPlayer available in the coming months at higher and higher display resolution and quality, and on more and more devices.”

For more information, visit: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer