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YouTube launches mobile site
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 25th January 2008
Just in case you didn't get enough of that dog chasing those balloons, now it's available anywhere.
Accessible via http://m.youtube.com, the site currently only supports certain 3G handsets that have the ability to stream .3GP video content Which means it's really nothing more than the standard YouTube site with a smaller interface and RTSP instead of Flash for the video streaming.
The company has announced that a Java-based applet which will allow more basic phones to stream their little hearts out is under development, though they haven't yet offered a timescale on when such a thing might be released.
The first time you access the site you'll receive a sternly worded warning that “YouTube Mobile is a data intensive application”, and the suggestion that “you upgrade to an unlimited data plan with your mobile service provider to avoid additional charges.” Let's face it, with the per-kilobyte charging of some non-data-specific tariffs it's good advice.
If you're on an all-you-can-eat data plan and have a phone capable of running RTSP streams in the browser it's certainly worth checking out, but I can't help but feel that it's destined to be no more than a passing phase. After all, how often are you out and about and think to yourself “if only I had access to a video of a dog eating balloons right now”?
Do you think it's a brave new world of always-connected video streamery, or is it just another step in YouTube's long, long road to profitability? Share your thoughts over in the forums and share your favourite viral videos.
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Comments (8)
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I ALWAYS need a video of a dog eating balloons!!!!!
Anyways, Cool beans and all.
But That sucks for Nor Cal.
Out here in Nor Cal, The newest phone from Nokia is the N75 with cingular. Which is a good enough phone, but we don't get the updates that the N80 gets. Because it is a cheap knock off of the N80.
But Hope fully, I will be able to hit this site. Solely Because of the Dog eating balloons!
I've install the app, but so far I've not been able to stream anything. So far emTube (for S60 3rd edition phones) is a lot better.
http://www.ytpocket.com/
"An unknown error 0x8007274D has occurred".
Oh well, I just wanted to see if it would work, guess not.