New York — Attempting to capture everyone’s attention, the search engine giant is now making it easier for wireless subscribers to watch YouTube on the go, and it has released a new application for most Symbian and Windows Mobile smartphones.
Although not nearly as exciting as YouTube on the iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile users have reason to celebrate with a new version of the YouTube’s mobile application.
While many Symbian devices already have a Flash-capable browser that can watch videos on YouTube’s mobile site, Google’s app will likely provide a richer experience for wireless users. Google said the application will automatically select the highest-quality video depending on the user’s device and network.
“Once installed, no configuration is required outside of the application,” Google wrote on its mobile blog. “We have worked really hard to make video playback ‘just work.”
The post on the YouTube Blog promises, “In addition to providing YouTube on more phones than ever before, it is also much faster — up to 90% faster starting up, searching, and video loading — and gives you better video quality that is automatically optimized to your WiFi or 3G network.”
The interface of the application introduced for the Symbian S60 platform corresponds a lot to the YouTube we are all accustomed with. It has been optimized for QVGA screens, yet it does not include full support for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Users are able to access top rated, most viewed and most recent videos, just the same as on the web version of the site. Once selected, a clip will start playing in full screen and in landscape mode. Movies that are widescreens will be viewed in a “letter-box” format.
The app also allows users to watch videos, view a list of the top-rated clips, and search for videos. Once a consumer chooses a video, it plays in landscape mode with the standard YouTube controls. The application can be downloaded from m.youtube.com, and it is available for most Windows Mobile handsets like the Touch Diamond. However, it is only available for Symbian S60 3rd edition devices, and a full list of compatible handsets can be found here.
The post also states, “More cool features and app improvements are on the way, and the app will alert you as updates become available and allow you to upgrade with a single click.”
In this demo video below, both the application and the selected video begin to play around a second after they are launched. That is a whole lot faster than the iPhone, especially the launch time, which should make clicking on YouTube links in e-mails and while browsing a less painful experience. While YouTube for Mobile is available globally, it is only localized for Australia, Ireland, N.Z., UK, and the US. Regardless, Nokia N95 owners should be pleased:
For Google, this is just the initial stage of extending its presence into the mobile space because it eventually sees mobile advertising generating more revenue than advertising on the normal Web. The search giant has a plethora of apps available for smartphone platforms like Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry line. It also released its own mobile operating system to capitalize on growing mobile Web usage, and Android is expected to be on multiple handsets this year.