Search Results for: youtube

YouTube has become the defacto place to find just about anything and, while cat videos remain popular, music is also a big part of the service. Users seem to flock to the place to watch music videos by major artists that sometimes go viral, as well as unknown people who become memes.

YouTube spent some time reminiscing about its memorable past in an announcement of the birthday celebration. "To call out just a few highlights in YouTube history, there are more than 120,000 videos inspired by 'Let it Go' (based on videos posted with that title), half a million by 'Gangnam Style,' and a stunning 1.5 million videos by 'Harlem Shake' (that’s a lot of motorcycle helmets). These inspired riffs got us thinking about those magical moments when songs become bona fide trends—and people all over the world start remixing, covering, parodying, dancing, and lip-dubbing", says the company's Claire Stapleton.

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Despite countless channels included on Roku, one has been missing since its inception. Now that problem has been rectified, just in time to keep the device a few paces ahead of its latest rival.

Today the set-top box maker announces that it has finally integrated YouTube across all of its devices -- or at least those released since July 2011. This includes "Roku LT, Roku 1, Roku 2, Roku 2 HD, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2XS, Roku 3, the Roku Streaming Stick (both HDMI and Roku Ready versions) and the Roku HD model #2500", says Roku's Ed Lee.

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As a Long Islander, I am only a short train ride from Manhattan. And so, I have been to my fair share of Broadway shows. After all, if you are going to live in New York, you might as well take advantage of it.

While musicals on Broadway are commonplace, it is odd to see them come from Redmond, Washington. However, that is exactly what has happened, as the Microsoft OneNote team delivers a Tony Award-worthy YouTube parody of the song "One Day More" from Les Misérables.

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Microsoft and Google are unlikely partners nowadays. After all, they are direct competitors on many fronts. There is Bing vs. Google Search, Windows vs. Chrome OS and Office vs Google Docs. Let us not forget that Google has been blocking Microsoft's YouTube app on Windows Phone. Heck, Google has essentially ruined Windows Phone for many, by not bringing its services to the platform.

Surprisingly, despite all the bad blood, Google has embraced Microsoft's Xbox One game console. Today, both companies announce that you can now upload Xbox One gameplay footage directly to YouTube or watch a YouTube video while simultaneously playing a game.

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Like Google+, YouTube had a love affair with white space. This quirkiness was only noticeable to those who have large displays. On my 23-inch screen this meant the video-sharing site had only taken roughly half of it to show me relevant content. To get around this behavior, I had to resort to Google Chrome extensions which could center the page.

I said "had" because, thankfully, YouTube is now smart enough to figure out that when we are using large screens it should adapt its look accordingly. It now centers, yes. And, to my eyes, YouTube now looks more like Google+. That is not a bad thing, really, as, from my point of view, there is nothing wrong with the latter's layout.

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The Seattle Seahawks overwhelming victory in this year's Super Bowl may now be a memory, but the ads certainly live on. Those that debuted during the big game continue to run during our daily TV shows, and Google's video service has been polling viewers to get a feel for what really came out on top that Sunday.

While everyone likely had a personal favorite, there was a consensus amongst the masses, and the company has unveiled its top five from the NFL championship.

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There was once a time when the popularity of a webpage was measured by the hit counter that was featured prominently on it. Thankfully these days are long gone, but there is a new type of counter.

There are few sites that don’t try to take full advantage of social networks, and many online articles -- including here at BetaNews -- include links to share content on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. It's easy for all to see how many times something has been shared, but this reveals little about the number of actual views this has translated into. But there is one place where the hit counter lives on: YouTube.

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YouTube, like many other websites, undergoes changes, and it has taken on a number of guises over the years. Some looks have lasted for a long time, while others have been shorter lived. There are also experimental looks, not all of which end up being released, but even when a redesign is rolled out, it can take a while to make its way around the world. Currently in the experimental stage is a center-aligned layout which includes a cleaned up interface a new menu and a few other tweaks.

In the new design, a top navigation bar is now locked to the top of the screen, remaining in place while the rest of the page scrolls. There is a customizable carousel and a new Upload button encourages visitors into sharing. It's not yet clear quite when this new interface will be officially released to a waiting world, but it's something you can enable now; all it takes is a quick cookie tweak.

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It's Super Bowl weekend, a time when many Americans gather in front of the TV, with snacks laid out before them. While we'll all be watching the Denver Broncos collide with the Seattle Seahawks, that’s not all the big game is about. Many people watch as much for the commercials as for the gridiron battle.

YouTube is readying its Ad Blitz service, which already contains a number of previews of the upcoming commercials that you'll get a full look at this Sunday.

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When you hear the word pirate associated with a TV show there is likely one immediate thought that springs to your mind, and it isn’t a skull and crossbones or eye patch. But today that is changing, as a brand new program debuts in a unique way.

A new show from Starz network titled Black Sails is set to debut next weekend, but the network has a surprise in store for viewers. You can actually watch the very first episode right now. The premier show is available through the Starz website, in conjunction with YouTube.

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For a long time, dedicated websites and apps have been able to separate the audio content in YouTube videos, in order for users to download it for offline playback. Even the full-blown YouTube app that was developed by Microsoft for Windows Phone offered a similar feature, which allowed users to grab the whole video instead and store it on their smartphone.

Ripping the audio from YouTube videos can come in handy for those who want to enjoy their favorite tracks, but may find themselves in areas without good-enough cellular coverage for YouTube streaming. I have experienced this scenario first-hand while traveling. For Windows Phone users, there are a couple of apps that can get this job done, with MusicTube being one of the most appealing choices.

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It seems as if we should have reached this moment long ago -- like, perhaps, when the Roku debuted? The little, inexpensive set-top box seems capable of doing most anything, with the obvious exception of acting as your DVR. But, until today, it was incapable of playing content from the most popular streaming video service on the internet.

There are some stipulations with this release -- well, one major one, at least. That is the simple fact that the brand new YouTube app appears only on the Roku 3. "We’re bringing you the YouTube app (or 'channel' in Roku-speak) today on the Roku 3 in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Republic of Ireland", announces YouTube's Sarah Ali.

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A number of YouTube users who post game walkthroughs and feature footage from games in other ways are finding that their content is being flagged for copyright violation. It seems that uploaders are falling victim to YouTube's automated ContentID system which is responsible for weeding out all manner of copyrighted material. What is interesting is that videos are not being removed from YouTube, but are unable to earn money from advertisements, leading to a loss in revenue for a lot of people.

Uploaders are warned that their videos are still viewable but told that the flagged video's copyright is owned by someone else. What is confusing is the fact that the companies named in relation to the warnings do not actually seem to be the copyright holder. For example, VentureBeat cites the case of warnings being handed out for videos featuring footage from the game Metro: Last Light.

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YouTube has announced that the live streaming feature will be rolled out to all channels, after previously making it available only for a select number of users. It will be offered gradually, over the next couple of weeks, and will be complemented by the option to launch a Google+ Hangout on Air straight from the YouTube Live events dashboard.

"Over the last year, we've seen creators across music, gaming, sports, news and more categories use the power of live video to create amazing experiences for their audiences, and build new fans", says YouTube. "Now, all YouTube channels that verify their account and are in good standing will be able to live stream live video to the world".

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YouTube has never been the site that sparked the most intelligent or constructive conversations. The comments section has always been a place of great frustration for those seeking to engage in meaningful interactions about the topic presented by content creators, due to spam, trolling and other wasteful nonsense which has dominated the space for as long as I can remember. Part of the blame lies on commenters but seeing as we are talking about the InterWebs here it is YouTube which should take charge and pave the way towards improving what shows up on its site.

The move to Google+ comments is the most recent answer to a perennial issue. This did not come without a heavy dose of criticism, and for good reason. Forcing people to interact through Google's social network could deter folks from engaging with their peers and give Plussers the power over what is popular on the site; not to mention that Plussers control the narrative, which, if my experience and of others is of any indication, means that topics discussing rival companies and their products could generate little to no interest or a negative flow of input for content creators.

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