YouTube today announced the launch of YouTube Remote, an app for Android phones that will allow users to navigate YouTube Leanback with a ten foot experience. The app is available from the Android store beginning at 12:00 p.m. PT today. While most Leanback users are currently on Google TV, the app will work with any computer with a full browser and Flash. The key is to log into YouTube on both the mobile device as well as Leanback. YouTube Remote will initially only be available for Google’s Android OS; plans to include other platforms are in place. According to product manager Kuan Yong, while YouTube Remote is currently a separate app from the standard YouTube mobile browser, the plan is to merge the two once YouTube Remote exits beta. “We want to get this experience out across all YouTube apps,” Yong said. One advantage that the YouTube Remote has over other remote controls is that all the navigation takes place on the handheld device, as opposed to juggling one’s attention between the remote and the television, which decreases eye strain. Said Yong, “Only the active stuff happens on the phone, and only the passive stuff happens on the TV.” Related GigaOm Pro Content (subscription required): Read More
The number of broadcasts available on Justin.tv has jumped 20 percent in September thanks to the availability of new mobile streaming apps. The live streaming company released an Android app capable of live broadcasting in early September, followed by a similar iPhone app two weeks later. New data the company shared exclusively with NewTeeVee shows the overall number of broadcasts growing substantially in early September and then skyrocketing once the iOS app hit the iTunes app store. These numbers are poised to grow even further with the release of the Justin.tv iOS app 2.1, which was just approved by Apple three days ago. The new update adds live streaming support for Apple’s new iPod touch. Justin.tv’s VP of marketing and communications Matthew DiPietro told me that mobile broadcasts have been reaching up to 40% of all live streams available on the site on some days, with the average being a 20% share. “That’s a huge number,” he added. The new apps are also bringing new types of content as well as new ways to use the service to Justin.tv, explained the company’s VP of products Caleb Elston during a phone call yesterday. Mobile live streams tend to be shorter, but broadcasters also make much more use of social features, like Facebook sharing, which Justin.tv has integrated into its apps. Even outside the mobile space, Justin.tv has seen a continuing trend from broadcasters to move away from the browser-based Flash broadcaster and towards specialized applications, said Elston. Just this week, Dyyno announced that the users of its recently-launched Universal Broadcaster desktop application are now responsible for close to five percent of all live streams on Justin.tv. The increased use of such applications has to do with the fact the Flash-based online tool doesn’t support H.264 high-quality streams, explained Elston, but it’s also Read More
