The Google TV experience is here

Jul 8, 2010 10:10 GMT  ·  By

YouTube is finally ready to unveil Leanback, the TV-centric experience showcased when Google TV was unveiled at the Google I/O conference. The name says it all, the new interface is designed for a more passive experience, like regular TV watching. The idea is to enable people to sit back and watch YouTube videos back-to-back, without too much getting in the way.

“Luckily, YouTube Leanback wants you to conserve your energy for actually watching more videos,” Kuan Yong, Senior Product Manager at YouTube, wrote. “Just as its name implies, YouTube Leanback is all about letting you sit back, relax and be entertained. Videos tailored to your interests play as soon as you visit the site and they play in full screen and high definition, continuously. There’s no need to click, search, or browse, unless you want to, of course. Watching YouTube becomes as easy as watching TV.”

The site is now live and accessible to anyone. While Leanback really shines on big-screen TVs, especially with HD videos, it works just as well on desktops or laptops. The UI is minimal and doesn’t really need any mouse input. You can use your mouse, of course, but you could just as easily use your keyboard or multimedia remote.

But the UI is only half the story; there are several other elements that transform the experience. The videos start playing straight away after loading the site and in full screen. When one ends the next in the playlist starts without any input from the user.

The playlist is automatically generated based on what YouTube thinks you’ll like. This is based on the videos you’ve watched before, your subscriptions and what your friends are linking and sharing. If you’ve connected your Facebook account with your YouTube one, you’ll see the videos your friends share on the social network as well.

This isn’t the first time YouTube has tried something like this, but it seems the most promising move to date. And Google is putting all its weight behind this; it will be a central part of Google TV which is coming later this year. It remains to be seen how popular Leanback and Google TV will prove, but it will be interesting to see if they really get people to watch less TV and more online video.