YouTube

Popular video Web site YouTube.com is opening up its service to run on millions more phones which are capable of using high-speed wireless links, the company said on Thursday.

YouTube, a unit of Google Inc, says it is extending its service from a handful of phones to a broader range of devices used by 100 million consumers worldwide that rely on high-speed links to stream videos to mobile screens.

"It's basically the full YouTube experience you can get on the desktop -- on the phone," said Dwipal Desai, YouTube's mobile product manager. "We expect it to get fairly popular from our past experiences."

The Web video sensation now only provides a full mobile video service to users of Apple Inc's iPhone and to devices sold by Helio, a small U.S. wireless provider that targets young, tech-savvy consumers. Helio is a unit of SK Telecom Co Ltd and EarthLink Inc.

A scaled-down version of YouTube with selected clips is also available to subscribers of the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

Desai said that most of the phones sold by Verizon Wireless would not support the full-fledged streaming service and that it was not yet clear when this might change.

The company is also testing software that will make it easier for mobile phone users to upload videos from phones onto YouTube.com, potentially allowing for far greater use of video to document people's everyday lives.

Desai did not say how YouTube plans to make money.

Typically, YouTube and other Google services wait until they have found a large audience before the company seeks to introduce advertising to help pay for the service.

"Right now we are focused on building a user base on alternative screens and we'll look at monetization in the future," said Desai.

Monetization is a code word among Internet companies for running advertising alongside Web content.
The service will run on select devices from U.S.-based Motorola Inc, South Korea's LG Electronics, Finland's Nokia and Sony Ericsson, jointly owned by Japan's Sony Corp and Sweden's Ericsson.

YouTube for Mobile will be available in 17 countries and 11 languages.

I came across an interesting news item, titled, Is Hulu A Credible Rival To YouTube? It's Off To A Slow Start.

It is interesting to note that smaller guys are coming up to take on the biggies. The question is: will those endeavors succeed?

I am not qualified enough to comment on the success of YouTube. What I do know is that millions of people put up their videos on YouTube for everyone to access. YouTube is ranked fourth by Alexa. In that context alone, it would be a major task for Hulu to take on YouTube, the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos. However, both have adopted different approaches, and should easily co-exist.

I tried signing on to Hulu, but the site clearly states that the Hulu private beta is currently limited to users in the US. Possibly, this may not the right way to start! One, others won't really know what Hulu is all about till the time it is opened up to everyone. Two, at least I don't know what Hulu contains inside.

The Hulu site says that it hopes to provide users with the Web's most comprehensive selection of premium programming across all genres and formats -– TV shows, feature films, clips, etc. Additionally, it wants to give users more choices of when and where they can enjoy their favorite programming, while creating innovative experiences that will let users watch and participate in online video in new and exciting ways. So far so good.

The screenshots on Hulu look fabulous. However, I couldn't see any place where it says users can put up their own videos. Possibly, that feature will be added soon, or is already there, only to be unleashed when Hulu goes public.

I certainly won't mind seeing re-runs of "I Love Lucy", "Star Trek -- The original series", "The Green Hornet", "Fawlty Towers", "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em", 'Allo 'Allo, etc., provided those are available on Hulu.

Later, I was contacted on my blog by Michael, a gentleman, who signed up for Hulu. He has also reviewed Hulu at HighbridNation.com, and says, that overall, he's pleased, however some things could be better -- "Like, can I get more than one of the 19 seasons of Simpsons please"? That's his wish, quite similar to mine -- to get to see what we'd like to see!

So long as users like me can get what they wish to see, Hulu will be on the right track.