Speaking at Mix06 conference in Las Vegas, Ashley Highfield, BBC director of new media, said the corporation is planning to work with a range of partners to prepare itself for the next step of the web's evolution.
"We have a duty of universality. So it's vital that we innovate through a number of strategic partnerships with technology companies such as Apple, Sony, Homechoice, NTL and Telewest," he said.
Highfield took to the stage with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to show a version of its on-demand player on Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation operating system.
The BBC has just completed a three-month download trial to 5,000 homes around the UK, which allowed users to download as many as 500 television and radio to programmes onto their computers.
Subject to a public value test, the BBC plans to role out the service on its .
The BBC first revealed details of the service, dubbed MyBBCPlayer, at the Edinburgh International TV Festival last August.
Mark Thompson, BBC director-general, said the corporation was planning to launch MyBBCPlayer some time this year, calling the coming decade "a decade of on-demand".
The service is to feature a host of content such as on-demand versions of BBC programmes from the previous seven days and an "ever-expanding" proportion of the BBC archive. The player will also include live feeds of BBC One and BBC Two.
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