D_o_S
11-08-2006, 06:25 PM
Verizon plans to enable its users to view Youtube's videos directly on their mobile phones as well as televisions.
The deal will center around Verizon Wireless's V-Cast service and Verizon's FiOS television offering, which is continuing to expand around the United States. V-Cast utilizes the carrier's high-speed EVDO network, and enables customers to watch videos and listen to music on their phones.
With Verizon planning to add Adobe Flash capabilities to its handsets, YouTube would make some of its Flash videos available to V-Cast subscribers who pay $15 per month for the service. It's not clear, however, how well the video would translate to such small screens. At first, 50 to 100 most popular videos will be available for viewing, slowly the selection will expand.
According to analysts, the deal seems more about appearance than actual meat. First, the audience for videos on cellular phones is still quite tiny, and mobile video has yet to truly find a market. In addition, Verizon's FiOS television service is still in its early rollout stages, only reaching a limited number of households - 118,000 at last count.
Moreover, copyright issues continue to plague YouTube and new parent company Google. Much of the content uploaded to YouTube is done so without copyright approval, meaning the service would need to forge agreements with content providers before it sells videos to other companies.
Source: Betanews (http://www.betanews.com/article/Verizon_YouTube_Near_Content_Deal/1162920582)
The deal will center around Verizon Wireless's V-Cast service and Verizon's FiOS television offering, which is continuing to expand around the United States. V-Cast utilizes the carrier's high-speed EVDO network, and enables customers to watch videos and listen to music on their phones.
With Verizon planning to add Adobe Flash capabilities to its handsets, YouTube would make some of its Flash videos available to V-Cast subscribers who pay $15 per month for the service. It's not clear, however, how well the video would translate to such small screens. At first, 50 to 100 most popular videos will be available for viewing, slowly the selection will expand.
According to analysts, the deal seems more about appearance than actual meat. First, the audience for videos on cellular phones is still quite tiny, and mobile video has yet to truly find a market. In addition, Verizon's FiOS television service is still in its early rollout stages, only reaching a limited number of households - 118,000 at last count.
Moreover, copyright issues continue to plague YouTube and new parent company Google. Much of the content uploaded to YouTube is done so without copyright approval, meaning the service would need to forge agreements with content providers before it sells videos to other companies.
Source: Betanews (http://www.betanews.com/article/Verizon_YouTube_Near_Content_Deal/1162920582)