Search Results for: youtube

YouTube-mp3.org -- "the easiest online service for converting videos to mp3" -- is closing down. The ripping site faced action from numerous record labels, but it has now come to an arrangement with the RIAA.

The site is one of many that make it possible to convert YouTube videos into MP3 format, but it has piqued the interest of copyright lawyers. Millions of users meant the site was able to rake in ad revenue -- something the RIAA and record labels were less than happy about. An arrangement with the RIAA means YouTube-MP3 will close, leaving users looking for another site to cater for their YouTube ripping needs.

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Redesigns are tricky beasts, almost inevitably dividing opinion and leading to questions about why things couldn't have just been left alone. Running the risk of a double whammy of complaints, YouTube has rolled out not only a redesign of its sites, but also a brand new logo.

Both the desktop and mobile versions of YouTube have been treated to a new look. It's the redesign that has been beta tested on users for a few months, and with a few extra tweaks, the company is ready to give everyone access to it. While a fresh lick of paint for the site and apps was expected, the new logo is rather more of a surprise.

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To make it easier for people to access up to date information about what is going on the world, YouTube is adding a "Breaking News" section to its website and mobile apps.

The new section takes the form of an additional video carousel, and it provides access to new stories from a number of sources. At the moment, not all users are seeing the Breaking News carousel, and Google has not made an official announcement about it, but it does seem to be spreading out at the moment.

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There are many discussions nowadays as to who is the best YouTuber. Many people stand by PewDiePie, but Jake Paul and his Team 10 squad are quickly becoming a force to recon with. Heck, even Jake's brother, Logan Paul, is delivering some amazing content lately. OK, before you get too mad, please know that I am being facetious. The Paul brothers are probably the worst thing on YouTube these days, but I'll confess that the drama surrounding them keeps me on the edge of my seat. Seeing Killa' Keemstar report on the latest foolishness by Jake and Logan on Drama Alert is pure gold.

If you want to share the latest videos by Jake, Logan, or any other YouTuber, Google has a new solution that you may appreciate. Rather than just send a link, you can share and discuss the video from within the YouTube app itself. Very cool.

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The arrival of offline mode to YouTube Music may not seem like news, but the reality is that the "mixtape" option that was available was very limited. Now YouTube has made it possible to download playlists, songs and albums for offline listening.

As before, you need to be a YouTube Red member to take advantage of the feature, and the update means that users now have far more control over their offline listening rather than relying on YouTube to select tracks based on listening history.

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When Apple added support for third-party keyboards on iOS, many users were excited. To be honest, I was not, however. While I appreciate having the choice, I much prefer privacy. You see, when you add a third-party keyboard, the developer can potentially intercept your keystrokes. If you are OK with that, more power to you. Me? I'll stick to the stock variant, thank you very much.

But OK, let's say you don't like Apple's keyboard and trust Google with your entries. If that is the case, the search giant's Gboard is a very impressive offering. It is more than just a keyboard, as it adds the ability to easily insert things like gifs, plus do Google searches. It even offers swipe-style typing, meaning you can glide from letter to letter rather than peck. Today, Gboard gets even better thanks to new Maps and YouTube functionality. Google has also added support for drawing, plus three additional languages -- Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew.

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YouTube's head of music, Lyor Cohen, has confirmed that Google Play Music and YouTube Red are going to merge. Speaking in New York at the New Music Seminar conference, Cohen said that a new streaming service would be created.

Rumors of the merger have been circulating for some time, and the move will see Google consolidating its services into something rather more manageable -- both for the company and for users.

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Verizon Wireless customers complained this week that the company was throttling Netflix traffic. With talk of net neutrality ringing in their ears, people were upset to find that download speeds were capped at 10Mbps.

When Netflix denied implementing a cap, the finger of suspicion pointed at Verizon. Now the company has owned up to testing a new "video optimization" system, but it's not clear how this resulted in the cap-like effects experienced by many users.

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YouTube has quietly revealed that its Video Editor and Photo slideshows features will close down in just two months. It seems that not enough people are using the two tools to warrant keeping them alive, so they are being "retired".

Users are warned that while videos that have already been published will remain accessible, projects currently sitting in Video Editor must be completed by the shutdown date of September 20.

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Google, Facebook and other big tech companies have all committed to trying to eradicate extremism from their respective networks in recent months. YouTube has just announced its latest strategy, with a technique which sounds rather like a type of contraception.

The Redirect Method uses a very simple technique of displaying safe, carefully curated content when certain keywords are used as search terms. More than this, when searches for extremist content are conducted, YouTube will actually show videos that "debunk violent extremist recruiting narratives."

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Back in March, Google was hit by criticism after it was discovered that its Restricted Mode filtered out many videos with LGBTQ content. A month later the company announced that it had fixed the problem that led to videos being "incorrectly filtered" and now, to coincide with Pride month, Google has revealed policy updates to Restricted Mode.

Google says that it has worked with LGBTQ creators and YouTube employees and will now explicitly allow content that was previously blocked, to be seen in Restricted Mode -- hoping to quieten any shouts of "censorship." The new policies mean that content such as "kissing at weddings, personal accounts of difficult events, and speaking out against discrimination" should no longer be caught in the net.

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Terrorism is a scourge on society. When people live in fear, they cannot truly be free. While some governments are constantly working to fight terror, it cannot be done alone. To truly keep people safe, the private sector must participate in anti-terrorism efforts too -- especially when fighting propaganda and recruitment.

A good example of this is Google with YouTube. The company's video-streaming site is ubiquitous for a reason -- it is easy to use and non-restrictive when it comes to content. In other words, Google has supported free speech on its platform, but with that said, it also takes down videos that violate the terms of its service. Unfortunately, disgusting content -- including terror-related videos -- have slipped through the cracks. While expecting perfection is unrealistic, Google still wants to do better. In fact, the search-giant is presenting a four-part plan to better fight terrorism on YouTube. In addition, the company is working with other tech giants, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft to bolster its efforts.

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It has been a few weeks since advertisers started to pull out of YouTube after concern about the placement of ads. Since then, the company has been scrambling to earn back trust and it says it has "held thousands of productive conversations with advertisers, and implemented additional controls to restore advertiser confidence."

Now YouTube has set out what it classifies as hate speech, and says that any content that falls into this category will not be eligible for monetization. It's a move that's designed to calm the fears of advertisers, but there is concern that the rules being put in place are now too strict and could affect the incomes of large numbers of YouTubers.

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If you have automatic updates enabled on your Android phone, your index fingers and your brain may have hit a moment of panic and confusion as you realized everything was rejiggered from top to bottom, literally.

Par for the course with Google, you will now have to get used to a new interface, different placement of on-screen buttons, and more confusing navigation streams to get to the menu you want. That is, until you get used to it all, at which point you'll appreciate that they were all actual improvements after all.

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On May 23, Microsoft did something very curious -- it announced a new product in Shanghai. No, there is nothing wrong with having a press event in China, but the time difference meant Americans would have to wake up very early to watch it, right?

No. Actually, even more odd, Microsoft chose not to live stream the event. While there was a Chinese-dubbed stream found on the web, English-speakers were left to read live-blogging instead. This is unfortunate, as Panos Panay is quite the masterful presenter -- his unveiling of products can be downright magical. Thankfully, today, the Windows-maker makes the new Surface Pro announcement video available on YouTube -- no Chinese dub.

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