YouTube launches mobile site with more features

By Giselle Abramovich

January 28, 2008

YouTube's mobile site offers more videos and community features

Online video destination YouTube has introduced a new WAP site, a move that further validates the power of mobile video.

The new site at m.youtube.com gives users a wider selection of videos and more community features. The new site now features millions of videos and allows subscribers to access their account, favorites, uploaded videos and favorite channels.

“YouTube for Mobile is all about bringing video to mobile phones,” YouTube said in its blog post. “We believe in providing the best user experience possible for all users, which in some cases means different YouTube solutions for different phones.

“Overall, we're pretty excited about working with our partners and users to make YouTube for Mobile better and better over the next year,” YouTube said.

YouTube members can share, rate and comment directly from the mobile site to other YouTube users.

Additionally, if a user uploads videos to YouTube via mobile phone, they will appear within moments on both m.youtube.com and www.youtube.com.  Users just need to create a mobile profile at http://www.youtube.com/mobile

YouTube for Mobile is available in Britain, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, Germany and Russia.

In order for a phone to work well on YouTube for Mobile, the device has to support RTSP streaming. Also the phone’s carrier has to allow streaming videos.

To get the application users need to go to m.youtube.com and the site automatically prompts the user to download and install the application if the mobile phone is compatible.

“We have always believed in the power of video for mobile,” said Gary Ackerman, president of M3 Mobile, New York. “YouTube’s latest initiative reinforces our belief in broadening mobile phone content, whether it comes from text, graphics or video.”