Sky has enhanced its online video-on-demand (VoD) service from Sky Anytime to 'Sky Player' and added streaming capabilities, which allows it to function like the BBC's iPlayer Internet TV (IPTV) service. That is to say, TV can be downloaded and viewed in real-time; broadband connection speed allowing.

Naturally what you watch still depends on your existing subscription to Sky's TV services, although non-sky users do get access to some limited Sky Sports highlights and will be able to pay extra for episodes of their favourite shows from SkyOne, National Geographic Channel, Sky Arts and Sky Real Lives (most titles are available from £1).

Typically consumers should be wary of how much they download, especially if your provider is one of those touting an "unlimited" package alongside vague Fair Usage Policies (FUP). Being able to download an infinite amount of data does not mean that your connection won’t be throttled to the speed of dialup.

The actual quality of downloads is expected to be judged by a bit rate of 860Kbps, and resolution of 540x432. Customers can download videos totalling 100GB in 'Ready to Play'. You can have up to five videos per channel in your download queue at any one time, e.g. five movies and five sports videos. Once a video has moved into the Ready to Play section you can then download another video.

DigitalSpy reports that Sky may confuse matters slightly by retaining its Sky Anytime TV branded service, while a new name for Anytime on Mobile is to be announced shortly. Credits to Thinkbroadband for the link.