YouTube + Verizon = Web videos in your pocket

by Jordan Running Nov 28th 2006

The New York Times pretty much says it all in its article's lead: "YouTube is coming to mobile phones - or, to be more precise, a small slice of YouTube is coming to some Verizon Wireless phones." The web video giant has struck a deal with Verizon to bring "an unspecified number of videos selected and approved by the companies" to Verizon customers who subscribe to its $15-a-month VCast video streaming service. YouTube's senior director of business development Kelly Liang said, "We'll select content that has the broadest appeal and the highest entertainment value." According to the Hollywood Reporter, the deal will also let Verizon cameraphone owners upload video recorded on their phones directly to YouTube.

It's been obvious for awhile now that YouTube needed to get moving on bringing its library to mobile devices, but is this deal too limited in scope? I think if they select the right videos, and enough of them, it could be a success--I've often wanted to show a certain video to friends while away from the computer, and if I could summon them on my phone while at a diner, there would be some value in that (not that my cell phone is actually capable of doing anything so advanced). And being able to upload videos directly from their phones might prove very alluring to videobloggers. But this certainly isn't the deal I was hoping for.

Tags: cell phone, CellPhone, mobile, vcast, verizon, video, youtube

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