The number of people watching online video on televisions is growing rapidly. And with YouTube being the largest online video site, it needs to give those people an option to use the site. Which is why YouTube XL has now been launched.
Online Video On TV
Online video, and the viewing of it, is gradually turning away from computers and onto televisions. Although Internet-connected televisions are still rare, the range of devices, such as set-top boxes and games consoles, which can connect to both a TV and the Internet is growing. Which means options for watching online video on TV are also growing.
Boxee is perhaps the best known app for watching online video on televisions. But Hulu recently launched the Hulu Desktop, which although meant for computers is surely the first step towards Hulu launching in the living room. There’s also the BBC iPlayer which I regularly watch on the PS3.
YouTube XL
is already the biggest and most popular online video site in the world. By quite a margin. So it doesn’t really have to push in order to gain viewers or to increase its user base. But it would be dumb to also not make efforts to offer YouTube to as many people as possible, even those who don’t use computers to watch video. Hence we have YouTube XL.
YouTube has been trialling a TV Website since January but this is now the real deal. YouTube XL is essentially a stripped-down version of the main YouTube site. It’s browser-based but designed to work efficiently on televisions, mainly via games consoles such as the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. In time, televisions with Internet connections and Web browsers built-in will become standard, and YouTube intends to be ready and waiting for that moment.
How It Differs
YouTube XL is quite different from the usual YouTube site. The interface removes all the fluff and instead concentrates on the stuff that actually matters. So the menu options are sparse, with more of the screen dedicated to the video player itself.The main buttons, such as Play, Stop, and Fast Forward are also all much bigger and bolder.
All social networking features such as comments have been removed in their entirety. As has all advertising, although that could be a temporary situation until content partners agree to the move or the number of page views generated by YouTube XL warrants the addition of revenue-building adverts.
YouTube XL can be operated via a keyboard or keypad and mouse, or Gmote, a remote control app that runs on Android phones. The Apple remote doesn’t seem to be compatible and the need for a keyboard and mouse combo kind of ruins the whole appeal of remote viewing in the living room. If you’re using a games console then a controller will do the job as well.
Conclusions
The overall look and feel of YouTube XL is nice but not spectacular. High-definition video looks great played through it but the bog standard definition YouTube clips look atrocious on a big-screen TV. There’s also a distinct lack of content right now, with no music videos being available (for me at least) and premium content also blocked.
YouTube is right to make the move to the living room in this way because it’s likely that online video via television will become big business very soon. However, YouTube XL is far from perfect and will need some serious tweaks in order to become the leader in this field.
