100% of people found this useful
I’ve just spent this evening using one of my favourite Media Center add-ins to keep myself entertained, the add in question is Tuner Free MCE.
I first learned about TunerFree MCE when it was known as iPlayer MCE on this very site. This add-in is brilliantly developed as an independent application, independent that is from any major software vendor or from the big broadcasters in the UK. Since the project was born as iPlayer MCE it’s expanded and now covers all the major UK broadcasters, with the exception of SKY. To put it in a one liner, with this add-in you can view the online content from BBC, ITV, c4, for free and with very little configuration.
Let’s talk about the setup for a moment. Installation is a real breeze, always the sign of a great add-in, just run the msi, you can download it here. There is one thing you will need and that is .Net Framework 3.5, but you’ll need that for other add-ins anyway. Once it’s installed you’ll find the add-in in the usual places, in Programs in the Online Media strip and in the TV + Movies strip.
Using Tuner Free MCE is simple and intuitive enough, although personally I think it could do with mimicking Recorded TV a little more in the interface. When it starts up the first thing you do is to select the channel you want, or you can select all to see all the available content. The content is ordered alphabetically all you need do is select a show and you’ll see the episodes. From there you can start the show. You can also select to show all the episodes on the first page, or you group them by series. The next useful feature is the ability to group them by when they were added to the service, for example you can watch just today’s shows.
When you’re viewing a show from the BBC, because of the way they do their download service, a little extra step is needed. You’ll get a screen where you have to press the OK button on your remote to get it to go full screen, but then you are away. Fully rewind-able, pause-able, fast-forward-able from your remote access to all the programs on the big UK channels on demand services. I also just noticed that there's a small down arrow icon that lets you open up the iPlayer website, which can be handy.
One final note then on how this add-in works, again a big update from the original release is that there is now a caching service running on your Media Center in the background that pulls down the listings so that you get instant access when you launch the add-in. Also the change log at the developer’s website shows just how often this is updated which when working with something as new as on demand TV in the UK is fantastic.
There you have it, install this and you’ll get better access to on demand telly than any other method available in the UK right now.
**Update: You can now watch the live BBC feeds too!