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Tag: videos

  • YouTube HD Videos Now In Widescreen


    After weeks of trialling its new HD capabilities YouTube has officially launched its high-def channel.

    Users clicking on the newly added "watch in HD" option will automatically see the videos play in widescreen (16:9 aspect).

    YouTube originally announced its intention to go widescreen in November following the video sharing giant’s recent decision to start hosting full-length Hollywood movies.

    As well as boosting HD content, YouTube plans to add filtering options, including the ability to search HD videos.

    The Google-owned company will also be adding three new landing pages – youtube.com/music, youtube.com/news and youtube.com/movies – with a view to simplifying categorization and search.

    With competition intensifying as the likes of Hulu showing high definition videos, the improvements suggest YouTube is responding well to the challenge.

    The changes come just as Warner Music is pulling all its music videos off YouTube because of Google’s refusal to pay more money.

  • YouTube Offers Widescreen HD Videos


    YouTube has finally moved to a default widescreen player with an HD-friendly 16:9 aspect ratio.

    Perhaps not coincidentally, the announcement follows the video sharing giant’s recent decision to start hosting full-length Hollywood movies.

    Not that anyone will be complaining.

    YouTube has long lagged behind competitors such as Vimeo and Blip.tv.

    They have offered HD and widescreen players for some time now – but they don’t have the audience figures of YouTube.

    So this certainly opens up the options for video fans that steadfastly refused to compromise on quality by submitting to YouTube.

    A YouTube spokesman said that by expanding the page width to 960 pixels the new, wider player would provide viewers with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience.

    The change does mean that since the majority of videos on the site were uploaded as 4:3, they will now appear with black bars on the sides.

    Quite why YouTube hasn’t either given users the option to select a player depending on aspect ratio or, better still, to auto-detect it, is anyone’s guess.

  • Boost for mobile broadband as T-Mobile UK improves photo and video upload speeds


    Mobile operator T-Mobile UK has deployed HSUPA technology on a nationwide basis to improve upload speeds for users.
    The operator has promised the change will result in an improvement of to fivefold in the time it takes to upload photos and videos to web sites at speeds of up to 1.4Mbps.
    T-Mobile claims it is the first UK carrier to have committed to the data access protocol.
    The company said it is also upgrading the download capability of its HSDPA 3G network to 7.2Mbps, initially within the M25 zone encircling London but rolling out to other major cities during the second half of the year.
    T-Mobile is also trying to drive data usage, by cutting data roaming charges 80 per cent, to £1.50 per MB while travelling in EU member countries.
    Customers signing up for Mobile Broadband before October will also receive a £5 discount, knocking the price down to £10 per month.
    An online ‘postcode checker’ also allows potential customers to gauge the coverage and strength of 3G signal at their home.
    Jim Hyde, T-Mobile UK’s chief executive, said: “Mobile Broadband has come of age.
    “Today, 25 per cent of new contract customers are signing up and we expect to quadruple our user base in 2008.”