Google has launched a new and vastly improved mobile web site for YouTube. The new version uses HTML5 to offer high quality video streams as well as an improved user interface that’s easier to navigate on a device with a touchscreen display and HTML5 capable web browser (which includes most Apple and Android mobile phones).
You can find the new page at m.youtube.com.
While there are already native YouTube apps for Android and iOS, only the Android version supports high quality video streams. That means if you want to stream video in higher quality on an iPhone 4 with its extraordinarily high resolution display, you’re probably better off using the web version than the native app.
The improved site navigation also makes finding videos, subscribing to channels, and performing other activities faster, thanks to new touch-friendly navigation features, as demonstrated in the video above.
“While there are already native YouTube apps for Android and iOS, only the Android version supports high quality video streams.”
If they put on a Jobs/Schmidt cage match on PPV, how high would the buy rate be in the Bay Area? Pretty damn high, no?
I always thought the YouTube purchase was smart, even when everyone was whining about how they could never monetize the thing.
When you are playing Google’s game at Google’s scale, there are crucial factors beyond monetization to your ten thousand projects.
Microsoft puts a finger in every pie just cuz they can. Google puts a finger in every pie because they’ve got reasons.
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Apple’s likely got a 18 – 24 month head start on Google in the ‘second box under the TV’ space, which is why I think they can go and fully own the market before Google can get their effort up to speed.
Whether or not they ever make money on YouTube, Google’s one of the only companies that can afford to keep it running. I thank them for that. Although, they still deny too many of my videos for revenue share. and most content in general is crap. However, I’m heading to m.youtube.com right now as I’m tired of Apple throttling me on 3G via their iphone app.
And if Apple does what many of us suspect they will with the next rev of Apple TV, I agree – they could crush a large percent of the competition in this burgeoning space.
“I’m tired of Apple throttling me on 3G via their iphone app.”
Huh. I was assuming it was the other way around, that Google was denying the hi-Q videos to the iPhone native app. But I guess I shouldn’t have been duped. AT&T is what AT&T is.
I strongly assume that means the iOS native YouTube client will do hi-Q over WiFi, and that my conclusion that Google was leveraging YouTube over Apple for the first time is thus invalid.
“Whether or not they ever make money on YouTube, Google’s one of the only companies that can afford to keep it running. I thank them for that”
No doubt. Google is doing a lot of good work with their advertising revenue, even if they have very solid business stratagems causing them to do that good work. They’re running YouTube as a public service, which just happens to align perfectly with where they want to strategically be.
And imagine how utterly screwed up YouTube would be today if Microsoft or Rupert Murdoch had bought it. The mind shudders.
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Since the DOJ and EU clipped Microsoft’s wings, we’ve been living in an era of non-evil tech behemoths, which is nice and relatively unusual, historically. (Unless you consider the current banality of Microsoft to be evil, which is far more a literary jape than a picture of reality.)
The only behemoth black hats are the wireless and wireline telco’s, and they don’t really count as tech companies.
Perhaps a Jobs/VZW tag team PPV cage match is the one that would get the bigger buy rate nationwide among the cognoscenti than Steve-o vs Squirrel Boy. (Though Jobs/Schmidt would still get the higher buy rate in the Bay Area…)
All Tech Disputes … Shall Now be Settled … in a Sealed Cage Match … Live … and Only One Management Team Will Emerge! Contract your cable company immediately to purchase Only $79.99 if you purchase this evening.
The iPhone plays higher quality streams over WiFi than over 3G. When I’m out and about the native YouTube app hasn’t been great. In fact, I was jealous of Pre owners for their better looking mobile YouTube. Now, it’s no longer Apple or AT&T’s choice (as long as they don’t throttle me and I don’t exceed my soft 5GB cap). HTML5 really will set us free. Unless you want Hulu on a phone. ;)
Was just going to say that my Pre’s video streams have been great. Watched World Cup from Sprint TV for really good quality. Also Apple’s HTML5 demo page worked out of the box on any webOS device.
Although this is HTML5, YouTube is already on record saying that it will not replace Flash anytime soon. HTML5 lacks features like skipping or jumping ahead in video. Hopefully it will surpass Flash, just not there yet.
“And if Apple does what many of us suspect they will with the next rev of Apple TV, I agree – they could crush a large percent of the competition in this burgeoning space.”
FWIW, I don’t think it’s by any means a slam dunk that Apple will come in the correct way here.
There will be an enormous temptation for them to try to own leanback IP content distribution, rather than owning the box space itself.
If they went in that direction, it’d mean no Pandora, no Amazon VOD, no Netflix, and definitely no Hulu. Instead, they leverage their fantastic brand and interface design smarts, bring along the Disney portfolio, and run all non-local media through their distribution channel. They could still get a hefty market share in boxes, (though not the 85%+ they’d get with a more open box), and then just wait for more content owners to decide to go where the eyeballs and credit cards are. Third party apps would be even more tightly curated than they are on the iPhone platform – think more like a game console model. But on the bright side, it’d mean they’d basically be giving the boxes away for free.
Of course, it would require at least a partial shift in Cupertino’s DNA to move from a ‘box’ company to more of a ‘content distribution’ company, but I can see the appeal of that for them.