YouTube moves to the small screen. Verizon Cell Phone

Verizon Cell Phone

Internet video service provider YouTube announced Nov. 28 that it will be bringing its video entertainment services to Verizon Wireless cell phones starting in early December.

Verizon Wireless customers who have the $15/month VCast service will soon have access to YouTube clips. The service is limited, however. Subscribers won’t be able to watch every YouTube clips - just an unspecified number of clips approved by YouTube and Verizon Wireless. I don’t see this as being an especially tempting offering - it goes against the free spirit attitude of YouTube. (NYT free sub. req.) NOTE: This corrects a previous entry that incorrectly wrote that the YouTube service itself would cost $15/month. It is bundled into the $15/month VCast service.

With this new agreement with Verizon, YouTube will allow Verizon Wireless VCast consumers to access YouTube videos from their mobile phones for a limited time.

"We are excited to launch our new mobile service and to partner with Verizon Wireless to bring YouTube videos to a new audience," Steve Chen, You Tube Logo

chief technology officer and co-founder of YouTube, said in a company release.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon Wireless and YouTube are in talks to bring the video web site’s content to mobile phones. While no deal has yet been signed, the story indicates that talks are serious and that Verizon Wireless may soon land a limited time exclusive agreement with YouTube. Visitors to the company’s Internet web site watch more than 100 million videos daily on YouTube.

Under this partnership, YouTube will provide VCast subscribers with an array of videos, as users will be able to access video clips by using any of the VCast-enabled handsets, such as the Chocolate (LG VX8500) or MOTOKRZR K1m.

By using the embedded YouTube services on their Verizon mobile phones, users will also be able to record and share videos. YouTube moves to the small screen

According to the WSJ, YouTube content would be placed in Verizon Wireless’ VCast video service. Customers would be given a choice of from 50 to 100 of the most popular videos to view at any time. Given the amount of commercially posted content currently available on the site, as well as the unsavory nature of some of the user-generated content, it is extremely like that Verizon Wireless would demand some form of filtering before giving its customers access to YouTube content.

"This service offers our community and Verizon Wireless subscribers a new opportunity to connect and engage with their favorite videos," Chen said.

Tole Hart, a Gartner Research analyst, told eWEEK that Verizon could benefit from this partnership with YouTube.

One can envision problems with watching user generated content from YouTube on mobile phones. Mobile phone screens are typically less than two inches from corner to corner, have relatively dim screens, and do not boast very high resolution. Video made for mobile typically needs to comply with certain norms. The lighting in the videos needs to be fairly bright. The steadiness of the camera is important. Most shots should be close-ups because it is difficult to see smaller details on the small screen of a mobile. It is fairly likely that most content currently available on YouTube would be unsuitable from a quality standpoint for viewing on a mobile.

"For Verizon, this will create some buzz around Christmas time, the important selling season, and get people into Verizon Wireless stores," Hart said.

Verizon released VCast in February 2005, which at the time included episodes of soap operas and a 1-minute spin-off of Fox's TV show "24."

However, given the buzz that surrounds YouTube and the interest it would immediately draw if it were made available to mobile customers, Verizon Wireless’ talks with YouTube seem like a smart idea. The deal will probably incorporate a service allowing Verizon Wireless customers to post their own cameraphone videos to YouTube as well.

"Delivering YouTube content gives VCast consumers a mobile connection to video content that has revolutionized how people are being entertained today," John Harrobin, vice president of digital media for Verizon Wireless, said in the same release.

Both Google, the new owners of YouTube, and Verizon are just thrilled to be offering us an anemic version of the popular video sharing Web site. But fear not, non-Verizon Wireless users: YouTube will only remain exclusive to Verizon for a "limited period of time."

Chen hopes that this is only the beginning of how YouTube will offer its services to the mobile user.

"We will continue to roll out more exciting partnerships and features for the mobile users over the coming year as we don't want to be restricted to the desktop," Chen said.

So, who's willing to pay $15 per month for a censored, anemic version of YouTube that you can enjoy on a 1-inch screen?

Overall, Hart believes that the partnership between YouTube and Verizon makes sense.

"This is a trial and the start of more to come," Hart said. "The business model is not completely hashed out for mobile video and will eventually include some types of advertising, and the mobile phone will begin to be on the content creation side as well. I think this is a good match for both companies."

Verizon Wireless consumers can obtain a VCast vPak subscription, which includes unlimited basic video, for $15 monthly access, or $3 daily access, added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan.

Source

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/

YouTube moves to the small screen

A deal between YouTube and US mobile firm Verizon Wireless will see the popular video-sharing website extended to mobile phones.

This news announcement sparks a lot of questions in my mind.

Users who subscribe to Verizon's Vcast service will be able to view content on the YouTube website via their mobiles.

The trial, which will begin in December, will also allow users to post video clips from their phones more easily.

First off its a little confusing because it says,

Users who subscribe to Verizon’s Vcast service will be able to view content on the YouTube website via their mobiles.

It is likely that similar tie-ups will follow as mobile operators look for a

slice of the social-networking pie.

More than 100 million video clips are viewed every day on the YouTube website.

and then states this,

The new deal will mean that VCast users, who pay $15 a month to watch and download video to their mobile, will have access to a limited number of approved videos from YouTube.

User-generated content

The new deal will mean that VCast users, who pay $15 a month to watch and download video to their mobile, will have access to a limited number of approved videos from YouTube.

In contrast, the web version of the site allows users to access almost any video for free.

How do you go from saying that the Vcast service will be able to view content on the YouTube website and then say they will have access to a limited number of approved videos? First off, the YouTube.com website is a Flash/FLV based media player and Vcast is a Mpeg4 based service, would be interesting to know how they implemented that one. I assume this might be some of the reason for limited number of approved videos? because converting FLV to other formats right now is not something of a smooth process. But we are talking about going from a larger resolution to a smaller one so even if you are going from a compressed format to another you will be alright. Most YouTube.com movies are compressed alot though so I wonder if they are limiting it to videos they have the source to?

The Verizon tie-up also means users will be able to upload short clips captured on their mobile phones.

Previously, posting content from mobile handsets to YouTube required an email address but subscribers to Verizon's wireless media service Vcast will now be able to upload content using a five-digit short code.

YouTube, the online video sharing site which was recently bought by Google, had said it hoped to expand its service beyond computers.

Well like I said this new article sparked more questions then answers. It was nice to see that they hooked up a 5-digit code to send videos to for uploading videos. This should make the expansion of social-video-networking go up quite a bit. It would be really cool, this is way out there, to have this fuel Verizon’s relationship with Adobe and push the Vcast system to use FLV (and Flash Lite 2.X/3.0???) instead of or in addition to the Mpeg4 based service of right now. Anything that pushes Flash forward on the mobile device arena is cool.

The deal with Verizon is part of a limited trial for the fashionable site on the small screen.

The popularity of social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace are increasingly attracting the eyes of mobile phone operators, desperate to increase revenues as the price of making calls continues to fall.

"The user-generated content space is a very important sector in media," said Robin Chan, marketing director at Verizon Wireless.

UK mobile phone operators have yet to enter such a tie-up although they do offer their own networking sites.

O2 has launched LookAtMe which allows users to download video clips posted by other users and 3's Kink Kommunity sees thousands of postings each day.

YouTube moves to the small screen. Verizon Cell Phone

Verizon Cell Phone

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