YouTube has launched its newest service as part of a concerted strategy to move its content from the screen into the living room, the social heartland of its users. The new feature, YouTube XL, was launched after introduction of Hulu Desktop just a few days ago.
Soon users may be clicking the remote from their most comfortable chair in order to see YouTube videos on high resolution TV screen.
YouTube XL is a major enhancement to the YouTube for TV beta, an earlier launch, Google released in January. Product manager of YouTube XL, Kuan Yong, was quoted as saying that nothing about YouTube itself has really changed—except for the framework, which holds all that video content.
So users will think of YouTube, but with a vastly different UI, or user experience. All you need to do is just visit YouTube.com/XL, and you are set to enjoy the experience. It's all in the browser. There is no need for any software or plug-in to be downloaded and installed. You are just required to log in to YouTube from any browser and use the XL feature that enlarges the video image to match the size of the screen, which you are using.
YouTube's XL dedicated development team has worked hard to ensure it runs smoothly on most devices – over 140 of them at last count, Yong informed to add: "It looks really good, particularly in full-screen mode."
I played around with this on my Wii, this weekend. Much more improved since the old YouTube for TV.
ReplyDeleteIf boxee doesn't flat out just operate with YouTube XL, it's nice to note some of the key features such as accessing your Playlists and Subscriptions, as well as a robust related video list. quite informative post indeed..