YouTube Moves Closer to the Boob Tube
YouTube rolled out a version of its popular video-sharing site that was tailored for the television screen. It offered a stripped-down interface that did away with extra features like comments and scroll bars. The result looked more like the screen on your cable service’s channel guide than a Web site.
But YouTube.com TV only worked on game consoles connected to a TV set, such as a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PlayStation 3. (YouTube, which is owned by Google, has also made its clips accessible on televisions through TiVo, Apple TV and select TV sets.)
On Tuesday, the company unveiled YouTube.com/XL, a revamped version of YouTube.com/TV that works on any Web browser that can be connected to a TV, whether it is a game console, a PC or another device. It is intended to be viewed on a television set or on a large PC screen. It can be controlled not only with a keyboard, but also with some remote controls. And it can be made to display a series of clips continuously, a bit like photos on a digital photo frame. The viewing experience is especially striking for high-definition videos watched in full-screen mode on a TV set.
YouTube’s move is the latest in a string of developments that aim to bring Internet content to television screens and to allow users to interact with that content from their couch. It comes just a week after YouTube’s top online rival, Hulu, unveiled a desktop app that can be controlled through a remote.
However, many content providers, already nervous about their content being watched online, have been reluctant to allow television viewing of full-length episodes they post online. As a result, YouTube XL, which stands for “YouTube extra large,” does not have many of the full-length shows from premium partners that are available on the regular YouTube service.
Source: nytimes.com
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