Google Launches HTML5 YouTube In Europe

Google has launched the HTML5 version of YouTube in Europe, providing faster access to those accessing the site from smartphones and tablet devices.

The upgraded site became available in the US last month, featuring faster speed and “larger, more touch-friendly elements,” according to Andrey Doronichev, a YouTube product manager. YouTube’s mobile site also offers a host of features that were previously only available from the “.com” site, such as an option to create playlists, designate favoured videos and receive search query suggestions.

The service is now available worldwide.

YouTube on mobile

YouTube on mobile devices was originally launched in 2007, with roughly 1,000 videos available. However, the technology at the time “had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop,” according to Doronichev.

HTML5 allows much greater amounts of data to be stored locally by the browser, permitting new types of applications to run more efficiently and improving the user experience. However, security experts have warned that HTML5 brings a new set of features to consider as part of the application security development life cycle.

YouTube is currently being accessed via mobile devices around 100 million times a day – up 160 percent in 2009 over the previous year. According to Doronichev, “this is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.”

Google has also reportedly built an optimised version of the site for Apple’s iPad tablet, as well as recently adding support for the iPod Touch iOS version 2. The version has been optimised for touch devices, with large icons labelled “home,” “browse” and “favourites”.

Open video formats

Earlier this year, free software campaigners called on Google to use its purchase of video specialist On2 to break the hold of proprietary video formats.

In an open letter, the Free Software Foundation said the search giant should release On2’s high performance video format – VP8 – under a royalty-free license and distribute it via YouTube. This would end the dependence on proprietary formats and software such ad Adobe’s Flash.

The use of HTML5 does not mean that Flash is shut out of YouTube’s mobile version. However, with the forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 also set to offer HTML5, many commentators are asking questions about Flash’s continued widespread use.