BBC’s iPlayer coming to Windows Phone in ‘weeks’

Buck up Windows Phone fans, BBC’s iPlayer is coming after all, and shortly. In fact, according to the Inquirer, it will land on Microsoft’s smartphone platfrom in a matter of weeks.

A Nokia staffer, again via the Inquirer, provided the following quote to place the release of iPlayer in context: “BBC Iplayer is expected to arrive on Windows Phone within the next few weeks, a sign that the Windows Phone Marketplace is attracting more developers.”

Windows Phone could use the good news. Recently, RunKeeper very publicly dumped the platform, citing poor usership rates. From our previous coverage:

RunKeeper, an app that helps you keep track of your workouts, and injects a social element into running, is pushing the eject button and leaving the Windows Phone platform, along with Symbian.

[The move] well highlight[s] the issues that Microsoft’s mobile project is currently enduring. According to RunKeeper, Symbian and Windows Phone combined made up a dismal 1.5% of its userbase.

Thus, the positive comment from Nokia, albeit a nicely biased one, and the news that the BBC is still taking Windows Phone seriously, comes at a good moment. I almost want to call out ‘damage control,’ but don’t have any direct evidence with which to do so.

While iPlayer is coming soon, the same report in the Inquirer included one last factoid, the news that Sky Go won’t be on the platform for several more months.