Although YouTube remains king of online video, competitors like Hulu and Boxee have brought quality video not only to the Web, but to the living room as well. What YouTube is releasing today is a very bold move to make their service a part of this experience as well, and it’s called YouTube XL.

YouTube XL, in a nutshell, is YouTube optimized for the TV. It is made to be simple to use and interact with on big screens. It looks and feels a lot like a DVD menu, which if you think about it, is an interface made specifically for the TV. What exactly does YouTube XL offer? First, the interface: everything is bigger and is of variable width. The menu is on the left hand side, with options for watching videos, searching for videos, and controlling specific settings. Once you have selected a video, you can watch it, expand it full screen (it looks great fully expanded on a big screen), and browse through related video playlists or create your own. YouTube XL also supports HD video, and from watching clips of the Detroit Red Wings vs. the Chicago Blackhawks at YouTube HQ, the quality stands up to its cable and satellite counterparts.

YouTube XL, because it’s optimized for the big screen, strips out a lot of the extras of the main YouTube website, specifically comments and many of the community features. In fact, there is no scrolling on YouTube XL, which makes sense. You can also use the Gmote Android app to control the video player, though we expect an app to be built for the iPhone (probably by a 3rd party) soon.

In the end, says YouTube product manager Kuen Yong, YouTube XL is YouTube with a different skin. But while it doesn’t offer new functionality, it does offer a completely different video experience built for TV. With more TV manufacturers including browsers within their products and YouTube XL available for the PS3 and soon the Wii, this could make the fight for online video turf very interesting.

posted by Popular Front on June 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm  Permanent link to this post

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