Watch out Periscope, Samsung's new phones stream video to YouTube
A new breed of live video apps like Meerkat and Periscope means just about anyone can become a streaming star overnight, but what about poor little YouTube? Well, it's sure got an ally in Samsung: The new Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ can both broadcast live video to Google's cat-video-sharing platform, no extra apps required. The beauty of the formula lies in its simplicity: All you have to do is fire up the stock camera app, hit the "Live Broadcast" button and sign into YouTube.
Assuming you're a verified user (a process that requires you to click a button and two-factor authorize yourself), you should be able to share a link to your stream to all your would-be fans and start jabbering away about whatever crosses your mind. These days, it's easy to forget just how stringent YouTube used to be about letting people broadcast live video on their channels -- for a while there it was only available to big brands and acts before YouTube said anyone with 1,000 subscribers could get in on the fun in mid-2013. YouTube dropped that audience requirement to 100 subscribers just a few months after that, and by the end of 2013, you didn't need a built-in audience at all. It took a few more years for streaming-video apps to seriously redefine how at least some people get their jollies, but the end result is pretty clear. Now just about anyone can become a "celebrity" (for better or worse) and Samsung was clearly eager to help. Thanks, we guess?
