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A beta version is due to launch later today and will run alongside the existing iPlayer for the next few weeks while the BBC gathers feedback.

Radio listeners will be able choose to either listen again to programmes from the last seven days with improved sound quality or listen live. There will also be a pop-out player allows users to continue listening as they visit other web pages.

Listen Again users will also be able to rewind and fast forward in the same way that they can for TV programmes.

The new iPlayer will provide "smoother and easier" navigation between TV and Radio programmes, while adding features such as Last Played, which allows users to resume watching programmes at the point they have left off. This, says the BBC, marks the beginning of a shift

Other new features include combined TV and radio categories such as comedy and drama, a larger playback screen to watch TV programmes and a TV schedule that allows users to plan their viewing over the coming days.

Erik Huggers, the BBC's group controller for Future Media and Technology, said that BBC audiences are now able to experience the full range of BBC content - some 250 TV programmes currently available each week as well as all the BBC radio networks.

"On-demand radio from the BBC has been a phenomenal success since it was first launched in 2002, with around 600 million hours listened to via streaming or the 'listen again' function," he said. "The full integration with iPlayer is a natural evolution for the audio service and an exciting step for audiences."

There have been over 100 million requests to view programmes since BBC iPlayer launched. In May alone, there were 21.8 million requests to view, some 700,000 per day.

The BBC iPlayer beta will be available on all platforms that support the current version, including the iPhone and iPod touch.

More information is available in the BBC Internet Blog's preview.