The BBC have just released a full, standalone (i.e. not Web-hosted) version of their hugely popular iPlayer for S60 5th Edition, specifically for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. This runs slickly and includes the 'Download' feature first seen on the likes of the N96, where you can grab DRM-ed programmes for watching in the next month or so, offline. To get the new version of iPlayer you need to go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/iplayer.wgz in Web on your phone. Read on for screenshots and extra comment.

Note the 'Download' link, too....

Note: after downloading, you'll get asked to 'Register' with the DRM rights holder. And the process may fail. The trick seems to be to make sure your phone is already online before saying 'Yes'. In my case, I started up Web on a web page first.

Downloaded BBC programmes then play fine! Incidentally, the timing of this release leads me to suspect that it was yesterday's v20 firmware update that enabled the appropriate DRM handlers in the 5800 to make the full iPlayer functionality possible. Anyone still on v11 firmware should note that the 'Download' bit won't work.

(Thanks to Michael Reynolds for the heads-up)