14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has opened the YouTube door, in a big way. Not only is YouTube content now readily available in your living room via the Apple TV update, but Apple has also announced that a new application will be available on the iPhone.
Apple TV users can now download the free software update from Apple using the built-in software update feature. Once installed, users can easily navigate through YouTube's familiar video browsing categories or search for specific videos. YouTube members can also log-in to their YouTube accounts on Apple TV to view and save their favorite videos. Meanwhile, the iPhone has a special YouTube player that you can launch right from the home screen. The device will wirelessly stream YouTube's content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone's stunning 3.5 inch display. Watch wherever you go and then share with friends, with the iPhone easily creating an email with the link of the video in it for you.
"iPhone delivers the best YouTube mobile experience by far," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in the press release. "Now users can enjoy YouTube wherever they are-on their iPhone, on their Mac or on a widescreen TV in their living room with Apple TV."
It was already known that YouTube would be switching over to the H.264 format over Flash, from the Apple TV announcement; however, with the iPhone joining the party it makes a lot more sense. The iPhone won't do Flash, so the old way that YouTube used to show videos wouldn't work. Of course, converting the entire YouTube library to the new format will take a while and only 10,000 or so videos will be available on June 29. Videos will continue to be converted every week until the entire library has made the change, sometime this fall.