ABC shows off new media player at REMIX

Today at REMIX 08, ABC Commercial previewed its new media player, which is the first major commercial project in Australia to be developed with Microsoft’s Silverlight platform.

The new player allows customers to preview, purchase and download content from the ABC library, including TV shows, audio books, and music.

Downloaded content can be copied to other computers a set number of times, but will not play on iPods or other portable storage devices due to its high bit rate.

ABC collaborated with digital services company Hyro to design the player, which was developed entirely in Australia in about six months.

The media player was built using Silverlight 1, which debuted last year and provides rich media content across multiple platforms and browsers.

With Silverlight 2's pre-Olympics launch already on the horizon, ABC says it is confident the platform will stand the test of time for customers.

“While the current functionality of Microsoft Silverlight was important to ABC Commercial in choosing this as the platform, so too were the overall development plans for the technology itself,” said ABC Commercial Technical Director Matt Moran.

“We have had full visibility of the development path for Silverlight and the capabilities future releases of the platform would bring for us."