Media Wonk

Apple, YouTube Quicken their alliance - June 20, 2007

Did anyone notice Google very quiet launch of YouTube Mobile over the weekend, so that anyone with a 3G phone can now watch Sopranos spoofs on the tiny screen?

Didn’t think so.

Oh wait! Soon you’ll be able to STREAM YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO YOUR iPHONE??!!! Boy, that Apple sure is cutting edge.

The asymmetry in the announcements was no doubt intentional on Google’s part, however, the better to emphasize its deepening format alliance with Apple.

YouTube Mobile will stream videos using the 3GP video format, a stripped-down, open-standard version of H.264 developed by the 3^rd Generation Phone Partnership. The videos will work with a variety of mobile media player applications.

For the iPhone, however, YouTube will stream its videos in regular H.264, for viewing with a customized, Apple-designed application, according to Apple’s press release.

“The combination of H.264-encoded videos plus iPhone’s built-in Wi-Fi networking, stunning 3.5 inch display, and custom YouTube application with its multi-touch user interface results in the best YouTube experience on any mobile device,” the release boasted.

Some mobile phones are more equal than others, apparently.

The iPhone announcement comes two weeks after YouTube said it would begin encoding its vast library of videos in H.264 to make them compatible with Apple TV, which supports QuickTime but not YouTube’s native Flash format.

Nor does Apple TV support Windows Media Video, more to the point. And neither, it would appear, does YouTube intend to.

Rather, Google and Apple appear to have in mind a broad, non- (if not anti-) Microsoft format and content alliance, built on H.264 and spreading to as many platforms as possible.

Something for content owners to consider as they ponder licensing deals with YouTube.

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