Instantly zap YouTube videos to your Android phone with Chrome to Phone

Ever wanted a way to quickly and easily send YouTube videos and other information from your desktop or laptop to your phone to view on the go? The new Chrome to Phone extension adds a button to your Google Chrome browser that instantly sends the current YouTube video, web page, map, or selected phone number or text to your Android device running Froyo (or Android 2.2).

Suppose you're mid-way through a scintillating 15-minute video and you have to run to an appointment. Simply click the extension icon in your browser to send the video’s link to your phone and the device's browser will automatically open the link, ready for you to view on the go. 






The Chrome to Phone extension is available in English for now, but we hope to expand to other languages soon. Check out the help center if you have further questions.

To get Chrome to Phone, install the Chrome to Phone extension in your Google Chrome browser and the Android application on your phone, and you’re ready to go.

Dave Burke, Engineering Manager, recently watched “Asturias-John Williams.”

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You Report: What’s happening now in the Bay Area?

Though YouTube is a global site, it’s often local videos that are most relevant to your life. When people use camcorders and mobile phones to capture newsworthy events in their neighborhoods and upload them to YouTube, they’re broadening the window into our own communities. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area (where YouTube is based), we’ve seen several YouTube videos inform local news coverage, from the snapping of support cables on the Bay Bridge, to the shooting of Oscar Grant by an Oakland police officer, to fights breaking out on Muni, the local bus system.

Earlier this summer, we announced our CitizenTube News Feed, the first of two projects we're doing with the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Now, we’re participating in an experiment in citizen reporting right here in our own backyard. We’re joining forces with our local ABC station, ABC7 (KGO-TV), to launch the ABC7 uReport powered by YouTube. ABC7 will use YouTube Direct to collect news footage from people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Residents of the Bay Area are invited to document the news and events happening where they live, work and play, and to submit those videos via YouTube Direct to the producers at ABC7. The team at ABC7 will feature newsworthy videos on television (Channel 7 in the Bay Area), on their website (ureport.abc7news.com), and on their YouTube channel (youtube.com/abc7news).

Do you have a video camera and live in the Bay Area? You can participate in the project by submitting your news videos to ureport.abc7news.com, and be sure to follow along on Twitter (@abc7newsbayarea) and on Facebook (facebook.com/abc7news) for the latest news and updates.

Olivia Ma, News Manager, recently watched “Dancing at Sunday Streets Mission.”

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YouTube Mobile gets a kick start

It’s well known that the mobile Internet is huge and growing fast; what’s surprising is exactly how fast. According to a recent report, within five years more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably: playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we’re excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.

We launched YouTube on mobile devices in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available on the mobile site (m.youtube.com). While this suddenly opened up the possibility to access videos on the go, our site, mobile browsers and the hardware had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop. Today, more than ever, we know that you want to be able to find and access your favorite videos wherever you are. That’s why we’re rolling out an updated version of the mobile site. Here's what's new about it:

• It's really fast. 
• The user interface incorporates larger, more touch-friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go. 
• It incorporates the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists, the ability to designate “favorite,” “like” or “unlike” videos directly from your device.
• As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.

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. We're launching in English only today, but will be rolling it out in other languages in the coming months. You can access the latest YouTube mobile site from your iPhone or Android browser. To learn more, visit m.youtube.com to check out the latest improvements and take a minute to watch this demo video:



Andrey Doronichev, Product Manager, recently watched "Insane street football."

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​New YouTube App for Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 phones

Last March,we launched the YouTube Mobile app for Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile phones. Since then, the application was translated to 12 languages, installed on millions of devices around the world, and has been chosen as a Nokia Ovi Top App of 2009. Today we’re releasing the latest version of the YouTube Mobile app, version 2.4.

We strongly believe that faster is better.The YouTube Mobile app is designed to be the fastest way to find and play a video on your smartphone. In the initial release we minimized the number of features and focused on speed for things that matter: app startup, finding a video, and starting playback.

In today’s release we have added search query suggestions, ‘My Account’ support, and a new homescreen user interface that is optimized for larger screens. Now when you log into your YouTube account on our phone, you can view your favorites, subscriptions and playlists from wherever you are. Let’s say you have recently found an amazing basketball shot video and favorited it on your desktop PC. When you’re at the basketball court with your friends, all you need to do is launch the YouTube app and go to your “Favorites” to show it to them.



Another feature that we have added is query suggestions. When you type into the YouTube search box, you get relevant suggestions. This saves on typing, which is especially useful for mobile phones where text input may be difficult.



To download the app on your Windows Mobile or Nokia S60 phone, simply visitm.youtube.com/appin your phone's browser. For more information, please take a look at the YouTube Help Center.

Andrey Doronichev, Product Manager, Mobile, recently watched "Alice in Wonderland - New Official Full Trailer (HQ)."

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Nexus One Offers Seamless YouTube Experience

The YouTube mobile experience on Nexus One, the newest Android-powered phone, is smoother and faster than ever before. You can shoot a DVD-quality video and upload it to YouTube with just a few taps, as well as search millions of YouTube videos and watch them in seconds.

Forexample, the day I received my very first CD-ROM game, “Star Wars:Rebel Assault,” is one of my more vivid childhood memories. Today mynostalgia was satisfied in exactly 17 seconds: with just three clicks I wasable to watch "Rebel Assault gameplay video" on the 3.7 inch AMOLED display of my new Nexus One -- that's less time than it used to take to load the game on my PC.I simply tapped 'Search' on the new YouTube home screen widget, hit themicrophone icon and said "star wars rebel assault" -- the first videofound was the very same video I had seen at a computer expo back in1993.

To learn more about Nexus One, visit google.com/phone or head to the Nexus One YouTube channel. You can watch a preview of YouTube on Nexus One here:



Andrey Doronichev, Product Manager, Mobile, recently watched "Star Wars: Rebel Assault - Gameplay part 4" on his Nexus One phone. 

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Android 2.0 Introduces Improvements for Mobile Video

Earlier this year, we revealed the rapid growth in mobile video uploads to YouTube, largely spurred by the launch of powerful devices (like the iPhone 3GS and increasing Android adoption).

Uploading and sharing mobile videos on YouTube are getting kicked up another notch with today's launch of the Verizon Droid by Motorola. The Droid is the first device to run the latest version of Android (version 2.0) and introduces some remarkable improvements:

• DVD quality recording and easier sharing: It is now possible to shoot DVD-quality videos and upload them to YouTube with a single flick of a finger. Droid is the first Android powered phone with DVD-quality recording, and it offers the ability to add effects like sepia, solarization and red tint to your videos. In addition, the new YouTube widget gives single-tap access to recording and sharing capabilities right from the home screen, making it even easier to broadcast those special moments or sights, or even silly ones like this video exploring six ways to have a fruitful finish to a lunch meeting:

• It's more like the YouTube you're used to: The controls on the new YouTube application on Android 2.0 now have a look and feel that's much more like the YouTube desktop experience. We've also added the ability to manage personal subscriptions in 'My Account,' and so now, with the ability to search, share, rate, comment and of course view videos, the on-the-go YouTube experience is closer to the one you're used to on your computer.

• High quality playback and brilliant screen: The Droid by Motorola has a brilliant 3.7 inch screen with noticeably high resolution and crisp colors: 854x480 pixels with 16M colors. The YouTube App on Android 2.0 plays videos in HQ automatically when you are on wifi, bringing the best possible YouTube watching experience to a mobile device. And if you are out of wifi range, you can still watch videos in HQ by selecting "Menu -> More -> Watch in high quality."
  

Happy watching, recording and sharing -- if you like, include links to your best Android-filmed videos below. We'd love to see the creativity that springs forth from this technology.

Jonathan Matus, Android Lead Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "Stealth Bomber."

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Go Mobile! It's Tips & Tricks Week for YouTube on Your Phone

This week we're joining in Google's celebration of all things mobile to make sure you're aware of the power you hold in your fingertips with YouTube on your phone. Not only can you watch millions of videos, but also you can upload videos directly from your device; maybe it's footage of a breaking news event, the drama unfolding at the party Saturday night, or your baby's first steps. Since we want to provide the best experience for each of you, we occasionally have different solutions for different phones -- so read on to find out what's available for yours.

Almost any phone with a browser can access the YouTube mobile website at m.youtube.com. (Some mobile phone operators offer a pre-programmed link, so if a YouTube link displays on your phone, click it to visit our site.) Once there, you can access your YouTube account, your favorite videos, your uploads and your favorite channels. You can also share, rate, and comment directly from the mobile website to other YouTube users. Or, if you've captured a great moment, upload your own video by sending it via MMS or email (sign in to YouTube and click here to get your unique address) and it will appear almost instantly on the website.

In addition to the website, you can also play high-quality YouTube videos with special applications on many devices, including Windows Mobile, Symbian S60, iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, and BlackBerry Storm v1 devices. For devices not listed, it means that there were either technical limitations to getting YouTube on the phone, or the experience wasn't a significant improvement over just visiting the mobile website. FYI, the apps for iPhone, Android and Palm Pre also support direct-to-YouTube uploads. To install the app on a compatible phone, visit m.youtube.com/app.

Keep an eye out this week as we tweet some useful tips and tricks for YouTube mobile. And be sure to let us know how you're liking it and what we can do to improve the mobile experience. To get started, just Go Mobile!

Robin Norvell, YouTube Mobile Operations, recently watched "Mobile Tricks."

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Adopt a Feature: All Hail MikeandToneRP

Lots of good news to report since we last spoke about Adopt a Feature v2. This round, the number of submissions to the program more than doubled -- 76 videos were made about annotations, tags, Quicklist, mobile uploads, the customized homepage and a few other features -- and in all they were viewed 407,994 times. Annotations were the most popular feature to adopt by far, and you had a lot of fun with it: KOHPelord literally brought an annotation to life to explain the feature, while DeStorm envisioned a superhero named "Annotation Man" to save the day.

But the most-viewed video of the bunch, and thus the winner of this edition of Adopt a Feature, was MikeandToneRP's exploration of tags, featuring an off-kilter "Megan Fox," viewed nearly 80K times. Congratulations, Mike! Look out for a YouTube T-shirt headed your way.

In addition, many current and past Adopt a Feature videos have found permanent, loving homes in our Help Center, where they can "give back" by enlightening anyone looking for more info. The list below covers just some of the places you'll find your tutorial videos helping other users out:

• Quicklist featuring LaughingLeaf's video
• YouTube With My Webcam featuring incorporatedfx's video
• Learn More About Insight featuring BeforeAndAfterTV's video
• Subscribing to Videos featuring Yobachi2007's video
• How to Add Closed Captions and Subtitles featuring SandburgSpartans' video

Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management, recently favorited "Metal Heart by Keith Loutit - in HD."

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YouTube Mobile App Expands to Five New Languages

We're happy to announce that the YouTube Mobile Application for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 devices is now available in five new languages. We now support users with localized content in Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Swedish, and Czech. This brings the total number of languages the app supports to 12.

YouTube's Mobile Application makes it easy to quickly load and watch high-quality YouTube videos on your mobile phone, even in weak coverage areas. To get the update or to try the app for the first time, simply visit m.youtube.com/app in your phone's browser.

We'd love to get your feedback, so visit our forum if you have questions or want to chat about YouTube mobile.

Robin Norvell, Mobile Consumer Operations, recently watched "Zombies TAKE OVER YOUTUBE!!!"

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YouTube Gets Smarter on the Small Screen

As more and more people are using the browser on their smartphones forchecking email, visiting websites, and even accessing YouTube, we wantto make sure that we provide the best possible YouTube experience on yourmobile browser. Today we released a new mobile websitespecifically designed to access YouTube on smartphones with capablebrowsers; phones like the iPhone, G1 and Palm Pre.

Just visit youtube.comfrom your mobile phone, and you'll be taken to a new websitespecially designed for your device. You can log into your account, viewyour favorites, and discover and share new videos quickly and easilywith whoever you choose. It's part of our mission to create the bestpossible YouTube experience for you, whether you use the site onyour computer, in your living room, or on the go.

Dwipal Desai, Product Manager, recently watched "iPhone 3GS dropped in the pool. Still works!"

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Adopt a Feature v2: Who Will Be the New Champ?

Recently, we announced that a new set of features was in need of your loving care. Over 50 of you heeded round 1 champion thecomputernerd01's call to help -- that is, to make a video explaining to the YouTube community how annotations, tags, Quicklist, mobile uploads and/or the customized homepage work. Almost 50% of the group chose to "adopt" annotations, and tags and Quicklist also received a decent amount of attention. You even made videos about a few features not on the list, like captions, the new channel design and widescreen viewing. So far, the videos submitted for this round have been viewed over 34K times and already there are some choice tutorials out there, such as...

...MikeandToneRP's explanation of tags, starring Megan Fox (um, not):

...LaughingLeaf's video on Quicklist, complete with a blooper reel:



...AJCShow's fast n' easy overview of sending a video from your phone to YouTube:



We'll be showcasing some of the best submissions on the homepage on Thursday, July 30, beginning at 6am PT, so it's not too late for your moment in the sun. Simply make a video about any or all of the features listed at the start of this blog post, and include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags. Share your video far and wide -- our autoshare feature will help a lot with that -- and try to build views for it. It's one of the factors we'll use to decide who makes it to the homepage and who takes the crown for this edition of the program.

Anyway, it's almost the weekend, so go forth and adopt (a feature)!

Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management, recently watched "Remix Culture: Fair Use is Your Friend."

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Adopt a Feature v2

You may remember the inaugural edition of Adopt a Feature, for which you made videos about AudioSwap, Country Pulldown, Insight, Playlists, Quick Capture, and Subscriptions. These videos generated 818,698 views (they're all collected here) and a bunch of them even got featured on our homepage. At the end of the two month run, thecomputernerd01 was crowned the Adopt a Feature king, thanks to his zany explanation of how the country/language pulldown menus work -- a video that accounted for a third of all of the program's views. He also got this awesome T-shirt.

Josh took a break from ribbing his grandpa to tell you why you should get involved with Adopt a Feature v2.



In case you're still buzzing from Josh's high-energy onslaught, here's what you need to know: Make a video about any or all of the features on the list below (click on the name of the feature to get more information about it). Include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags -- this is important; it's how we'll locate your video for inclusion on our channel and possibly on the YouTube homepage.

* Annotations
* Customize Your Homepage
* Tags
* Quicklist
* Mobile Upload

(By the way, for folks waiting to hear more about the roll-out of new channels, we should have an update in a few days.)

Posted by Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management

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Mobile Uploads to YouTube Increase Exponentially

In the last six months, we've seen uploads from mobile phones to YouTube jump 1700%; just since last Friday, when the iPhone 3GS came out, uploads increased by 400% a day.

This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts. Complete a simple, one-time connection on our upload page to allow all your friends and followers to get a real-time stream of your uploads to YouTube, which can be essential in this age of citizen reporting and ubiquitous sharing.

Already, you're teaching each other how to use this technology, you're doing product reviews and comparisons, and you're making test videos -- lots and lots of them. In fact, look at them closely -- where they're shot, who's in them -- and they stitch together a great patchwork of, well, life, from the little moments to the big ones:

* At grandpa's house
* In a Cambodian liquor store
* Observing carnivorous plants
* Drumming
* Swinging kids
* On a roadtrip
* At a wedding
* Capturing a wistful, rainy day
* "Live" from the Apple Store
* Squashing a can
* Pulling a giant stump out of the backyard
* Poolside, complete with a drop in the water (it keeps working)

Can you make your test video go viral through your social networks? If you can, we're willing to feature that video on our homepage. Upload a video from your phone, tag it with "mobiletest," share it with your social network, and Tweet us the link (so be sure to put "@youtube" and "mobiletest" in your message). We'll give you one week to spread your test video far and wide, after which we'll take a look at the most popular clips and feature a few on our homepage in a special "mobile upload" edition of our Spotlight Video.

So get goin', and if you want more info about playing and creating YouTube videos on your phone, go to http://www.youtube.com/mobile. There's a video on that page (or click here) that offers a step-by-step guide to uploading videos from your phone.

Posted by Dwipal Desai, Product Manager, and Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager

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