The new and improved M.YouTube.com is faster and comes with a user interface that offers larger, more touch-friendly elements. The new mobile YouTube also mirrors features and functions from the .com site, including search query suggestions, playlist creations, and the chance to favorite, like or unlike videos from a smartphone. The new site works with iPhone and Android browsers.
Demonstrating HTML5 Power
"With the mobile YouTube site, Google is drawing attention to how important and how powerful the HTML5 standard is and what it can do. This plays nicely into the argument Apple has been having with Flash," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. "Plus, you have limited access to the videos on YouTube with the native app, and some of those videos are streamed for low bandwidth even if you have high bandwidth, which is ridiculous."
Shimmin notes that Google is and always has been about the browser. The YouTube mobile site gives the search giant an opportunity to show that native applications are not always the best solution. With HTML5, he said, companies have instant portability and IT administrators don't have to worry about how to get users to download and install apps and set up their accounts.
"For the last year so, native apps were the best way to go for your mobile devices to get the best functionality. That's still true when you are dealing with applications that utilize native system-level functions, like attending a web conference," Shimmin said. "But with the draconian rules for submitting applications for approval, HTML5 could open the door for IT departments to incorporate more functionality onto mobile devices."
Introducing YouTube Leanback
YouTube also introduced Leanback. As its name suggests, Leanback lets viewers sit back, relax and be entertained. Videos tailored to the viewer's interest continuously play in full screen and high definition as soon as users visit the site. That means no clicking and no browsing.
The feeds are based on a viewer's YouTube settings and preferences, including content from subscriptions and videos friends are sharing on Facebook. Viewers can also watch the most popular comedy, entertainment and news. Viewers can use the right arrow key on the keyboard to skip ahead to the next video. It's a mouseless experience.
