YouTube Beefs Up Mobile Version With Speeds, Feeds
In addition, the update adds to YouTube Mobile the ability to do query suggestions, as well as some of the organizing functions -- such as the ability to create playlists and tag videos as "like" and "dislike" -- that users can get on the main YouTube.com site.
"As the world continues to go mobile, we think this is a great improvement for users who want a more consistent YouTube across many devices, no matter where they are," wrote Andrey Doronichev, product manager, in a post to The Official YouTube Blog.
The mobile version of YouTube launched in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available. According to YouTube, the mobile version of the popular video site receives more than 100 video playbacks a day -- about the number that YouTube.com itself saw in 2006 -- and its number of playbacks increased 160 percent from 2008 to 2009.
According to Doronichev, the new YouTube mobile is accessible from iPhone or Android browsers. It is available in English only at launch, but versions in other languages are on the way, he said.
YouTube on Wednesday also announced Leanback, a new offering that creates a video feed of different YouTube clips tailored to a user's settings, preferences and YouTube subscriptions. The feed starts automatically when a user visits YouTube, and users can also tie their Leanback feeds to their Facebook accounts, blending in content shared by their Facebook friends.
YouTube is owned by Google, which acquired the video service in October 2006.