YouTube has launched an updated version of its mobile website, complete with a redesigned interface, better touchscreen features and, most importantly, high quality (HQ) video streams.
At an intimate press event at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California, the Google-owned video service demoed its newest mobile product, which will roll out to users starting today. The focus was not on any new apps for Android, iPhone or other mobile devices, but focused on m.youtube.com, the mobile browser version of the popular Internet destination.
The new YouTube for mobile provides an updated navigation and UI for easier browsing. The home screen is similar to what you find in the Facebook iPhone app — there are rows of icons for different options such as Browse, Favorites, Playlists, Settings and Home. YouTube Mobile Product Manager Andrey Doronichev told us that the product is designed for touchscreen devices especially, which make up the vast majority of YouTube mobile video views.
The biggest and most important change comes in the form of HQ streams. If you’ve ever watch YouTube videos on the iPhone app, you know that the quality isn’t that great. That’s because it utilizes an old stream format for second generation networks. The new YouTube mobile site is designed for today’s networks though, including the HQ streaming option that’s currently available in the Android version of the YouTube app. There’s a huge quality difference when you watch videos in both formats.
Here is a video and a few screenshots that demonstrate just how YouTube for mobile will be changing today. Let us know what you think in the comments:
Screenshots
For comparison, here is the old version of YouTube mobile:
Video
More About: Mobile 2.0, Mobile phone, youtube
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