YouTube hits Apple TV today, headed for the iPhone as well

The wait is over, and you can finally train that Apple Remote of yours on videos of passable karaoke, mind numbing video blog confessions and the genius that is Daxflame. That's right, YouTube is hitting the Apple TV today, an announcement that is totally overshadowed by a little surprise Apple packed into the press release: YouTube is the iPhone mystery app. Sure, it might not be GPS or anything useful like that, but Apple seems to be aware of our addiction and is happy to oblige. YouTube videos can be viewed through an Apple-built application on the phone, and will be encoded in H.264 by YouTube to improve video quality and battery life on mobile devices. They'll have 10,000 videos ready by June 29th, and should complete transcoding the collection by this fall. Videos can be viewed over WiFi or EDGE, we don't want to even imagine the painful load times of the latter.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Apple PR
Read - iPhone YouTube demo

[Germ? @ Jun 20th 2007 9:27AM]

Nice! I'm buying it today

[PS3guy @ Jun 20th 2007 3:12PM]

YouTube on EDGE? WTF are they thinking

[nikster @ Jun 21st 2007 4:40PM]

they are thinking iphone WiFi...

[Lloyd @ Jun 20th 2007 9:29AM]

Looks very well implemented - I like.

I have to wonder if there are any more last minute surprises (given the amazing battery life and now YouTube I guess I'm being greedy!).

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 20th 2007 11:41AM]

:^)...

[andi @ Jun 20th 2007 1:39PM]

you DO know that youtube mobile is available for all decent phones, right?.. and you DO know that the said decent handsets feature very many times faster download speeds...

[Lloyd Hobden @ Jun 20th 2007 1:51PM]

I certainly DO know about m.youtube.com but it's hardly the same
experience on other phones.Many times faster download? There aren't
many other phones with 802.11g WiFi which is how I'd primarily use
the feature.So urrrrrgh! :p

[Robert C. @ Jun 20th 2007 9:30AM]

look at the photos on the apple site they added a DOCK! it looks soooooo awesome iWant

[Topher @ Jun 20th 2007 10:21AM]

Where is this new "DOCK" you speak of? I Want... to see it

[Robert C. @ Jun 20th 2007 10:25AM]

http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/index4.html

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 20th 2007 3:32PM]

"iWant"

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 20th 2007 3:41PM]

Hi-res anyone?
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery4_hires20070621.jpg
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery5_hires20070621.jpg

Here's more, they make wicked widescreen wallpapers:
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery1_hires20070621.jpg

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 20th 2007 3:42PM]

Engadget has a 3 URL's per comment limit, so here:
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery2_hires20070621.jpg
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery3_hires20070621.jpg
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery6_hires20070621.jpg

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 20th 2007 3:44PM]

And here, knock yourself out:
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery7_hires20070621.jpg
http://images.apple.com/iphone/gallery/images/gallery8_hires20070621.jpg

[Jason @ Jun 20th 2007 4:11PM]

guys, its just a cord with a piece of plastic that keeps your device vertical, do apple fans really freak out even when...gasp...they are given a dock? It's cool, but c'mon...

[Robert C @ Jun 20th 2007 8:46PM]

actualy iWant was refering to the iphone itself and i just meant to say it might come with a dock! but the photos make it loooookk soooooo sexy!

[Mrmean @ Jun 20th 2007 9:31AM]

awesome!

[Iscariote @ Jun 20th 2007 9:35AM]

YouTube isn't that bad on EDGE.

For any of you with data plans, go to m.youtube.com and check it out.

[cduran01 @ Jun 20th 2007 9:38AM]

Are the H.264 videos just for iPhone or will people be able to access them from other devices, such as the PSP?

[Tyler @ Jun 22nd 2007 9:10PM]

Wow! The iPhone is looking better ever day! Can't wait!

The lack of 3g, etc doesn't bother me when it has so many features that other phones won't have!

[shirizaki @ Jun 20th 2007 9:42AM]

So this is why Apple had Youtube convert their videos to h.264. Now it makes since that they didn't let flash have support on Safari.

[andres @ Jun 20th 2007 9:41AM]

how painful will it really be?
I think your typical you tube quick clip would be around 2.5MB for maybe a minute of video or so.

2.5MB = 20 480 kbits.. @ 236kbits/s so around 86 seconds download. if it starts playing after quarter of the file is downloaded around 21 seconds. so lets say you would have to wait 20 to 30 seconds before watching a youtube video. not cool but is not torture either.

what would make this even better is if it would save it after your first watch.

[Pete @ Jun 20th 2007 1:11PM]

With WiFi it should be virtually instant (and doesn't the iPhone automatically switch to WiFi if available?).

A bigger question is how, exactly, does h.264 improve battery life? Surely it requires significantly more processing power to decode? I know that my mac mini (G4 1.4GHz) can't play HD video in that format at full speed... does the iPhone have dedicated h.264 decoding hardware or something similar?

[Ben @ Jun 20th 2007 10:27PM]

Pete: The iPhone has a dedicated h.264 decoder to decode regular videos, so that's how it will achieve better battery life with h.264 youtube videos.

[Eduo @ Jun 20th 2007 9:46AM]

Both links point to the same place. HTH.

[Leonard Nimrod @ Jun 21st 2007 10:17AM]

Great! Now we need someone to create an app that will auto-split and load your newly downloaded torrents from your home Mac to YouTube as a private video for remote viewing.

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 10:03AM]

If you have to wait 30 seconds to stream a youtube video, I don't want to think about how long it'll take to stream something longer, like a TV show.

And most youtube videos are in 4:3 format, so does that mean that the iPhone's nice widescreen goes to waste?

[Mike @ Jun 20th 2007 10:01AM]

Wow, video without HSPDA and mapping without GPS. Next we will find out it can only play music in mono. As pretty as it is, I'll stick to Windows smartphones for functionality. With a 4gig flash card for my (non-DRM) music, I don't think ill be missing much.

[Chrisphillers @ Jun 20th 2007 10:36AM]

You stick with your buggy, slow, complicated, badly designed OS called Windows Mobile then.;)

If at least you wont go for the iphone OS, make the intelligent decision and go for a Symbian OS.

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 10:46AM]

Buggy? Slow? Have you actually used a Windows mobile device before? My blackjack runs perfectly fine. Furthermore, for all you know the iPhone could be even slower. Have you tried it out yet? Didn't think so.

[andi @ Jun 20th 2007 1:43PM]

har har... windows mobile is not extremely buggy or slow, but after you used symbian, it seems so... too bad symbian is only now penetrating (and with a huge negro tool that is) the US.. you'll get your devices soon, american fellaz

[Mike @ Jun 20th 2007 2:43PM]

Actually I have both, Symbian and Windows devices. I prefer the windows phone because of the amount of quality (and free) 3rd party apps. I wonder how long it will take for a Genesis emulator to arive on the Iphone. Never, I suspect.

[FordGTGuy @ Jun 20th 2007 10:04AM]

Apple TV bringing you 320X240 resolution videos to your TV!

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 10:04AM]

I agree. Once I found out the iPhone didn't have 3G, I went for the Blackjack, and it only cost $75. When I shell out $500+ for a phone, it will most certainly have 3G

[John @ Jun 20th 2007 10:22AM]

I made exactly the same call. Is the iPhone cool? Yeah, it is. 500 dollars cool? Nope.
Anyone that thinks it is, is just flat wrong. Sorry, but you are. For 500 bucks you can get a Mac mini. That's a whole PC, sans monitor. For 500 bones you can get 2 wii's. Is it cooler than 2 wii's? nope.

[mjp @ Jun 20th 2007 10:11AM]

So does it follow that YouTube is going to get a download section in ITunes? Seems like the logical extension of this, no? It seems a bit suspect that YouTube/Google would be partnering so heavily with and catering so heavily to Apple. I can understand why Apple needs YouTube/Google, but not vice versa. Anyone have a take?

[Todd @ Jun 20th 2007 10:20AM]

Mobile friendly YouTube is already available for ANY pphone:

http://m.youtube.com/?warned=yes

Confusing. Makes it sound like its iPhone only.

[Laxmanan Gowrishankar @ Jun 20th 2007 10:41AM]

Wow, thanks a lot, this is some super link :-D

[Ray-- @ Jun 20th 2007 10:44AM]

m.youtube.com didnt work on my MDA... i think thats ANY phone...

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 20th 2007 11:55AM]

But you need 3gp support on your phone. Still good call - that lets a LOT of phones support youtube right now. I'll have to find a 3gp codec or player for my MDA. :)

[petsounds @ Jun 20th 2007 10:37AM]

Well, that pretty much assures me that we won't see Flash on the iPhone. And the reasoning has nothing to do with security or technical limitations. Apple wants to own their platform, top to bottom. They don't want some advanced Flash apps competing with (what I assume will be) future iPhone app offerings from them. Like it or hate it, it's not the internet without Flash. It might even sway my decision to buy one. Apple and Nintendo both share the uncanny ability to take a really amazing idea and cripple it to a 10th of its potential.

What I don't understand is the stupidity of having YouTube reincode all their Flash videos in H.264. Flash's On2 codec is already very optimized for low-bandwidth streaming. H.264 is not. What does Apple think the iPhone is running on..3G? Or do they expect that all video watching will be done under the wings of the allegedly ubiquitous wi-fi hotspots?

[Tyk @ Jun 20th 2007 10:37AM]

YouTube on you iPhone (or any phone).. thats a great way to burn through your data plan in a hurry.

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 10:51AM]

Anyone that doesn't purchase the unlimited data plan is severely crippling the abilities of their phone, iPhone or otherwise

[Matt @ Jun 20th 2007 10:38AM]

Can't Apple just use Safari as the YouTube interface instead? It's good enough for third-party developers, so it should be good enough for them too.

[Foof @ Jun 20th 2007 10:48AM]

My thoughts exactly. Youtube is literally a website. Why doesn't Apple just use a Really. Sweet. Solution. and tell Youtube to make a Safari AJAX site? In the end, if I wanted to create an application to view files or manage the SIM card on an iphone, I have to use the web as an intermediary, but to view a consumer website, Apple builds a custom application?

That flies about as well as Jobs' statement that 3rd party apps are dangerous because they crash Cingular's network.

[Lloyd @ Jun 20th 2007 11:55AM]

Hahaha! I've owned 3 Windows Mobile Smartphones/PDAs and while I love the power (I mean they can pretty much do everything now!) you simply can't call them stable!

Winrot sets in after about a week (amazingly) even without third party software. Hard resets soon become second nature - as does loosing all of your stuff!

The UI is also very counter-intuitive; it works, just not the way it should. I still use a WiMo PocketPC as my day-to-day phone but to be honest I've all but given up on the advanced functionality because it's so clunky and buggy.

I think Apple's actually spot on with the 'limited' features and dead simple interface - perhaps a smartphone that will actually be useful.

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 12:15PM]

Perhaps the PocketPC version of Windows Mobile is different, because my Blackjack runs silky smooth after three weeks and plenty of third party software

[MDB @ Jun 20th 2007 10:47AM]

Yet, on the commercial the New York Times website's flash video appears as if it's ready to play. Gotta love that marketing

[amby @ Jun 20th 2007 10:51AM]

I'm starting to get pissed off by this Apple nonsense:
- Is this the first touchscreen phone? No! (too many examples)
- Is this the first phone with Safari browsing? NOO!! (all Nokia S60 3rd release phones have this AND visual history AND minimap quick browsing)
- Is the iPhone the first one with YouTube 3GP videos? NOOO!!! (Nokia, Motorola and I guess many other phones can have it at m.youtube.com TODAY)
- Is the iPhone the only smartphone with WiFi? (No, Nokia N95 and many others have it)

Does the iPhone have GPS? No. 5 MP camera? No. 3G? No. 3rd party apps? No.

Don't get me wrong - I think it is a very cool phone. If I would like touchscreen phones, I'd be getting an iPhone, most likely. But when the marketing machine (and fanboy evangelists) get in my face every day at least they should avoid misinformation.

Ps.: YouTube videos start playing after a second over 3G connection.

[jeromefoster @ Jun 20th 2007 5:08PM]

Got to agree with you...it's why i have this username. i can't stand the one-sidedness. iw ork with both Macs and PCs and both have + and - to them..iPhone looks cool and all but functionally it seems lacking for a phone of that price range. if this was $200 I'd have one already (and it hasn't even shipped)!