YouTube brings its guide feature to all devices, provides easier access to subscribed content

The folks working at YouTube are quite the busy little bees, updating apps, adding content and refreshing the site's look. Today, the site's rolling out its guide feature through YouTube.com and every YouTube app there is. The video site first introduced the guide last year on its web portal, allowing folks an easy way to keep track of new videos on their subscribed channels. Now, Android, iPhone, PS3, Google TV and other YouTube apps are getting the feature, plus the website's getting a fresh new look as well. You can get a better look at the new page layout after the break, and there's more info about the changes at the source below.

 [Source: Engadget]

YouTube app updated for iOS: now optimized for iPad and iPhone 5, complete with AirPlay streaming

Good news for people who love downloading iOS updates -- just hours after Google refaced its Gmail for iOS app, here comes another heavyweight in YouTube. The standalone app is now fully optimized for use with iPad and the iPhone 5, and perhaps the biggest gift of all is the addition of AirPlay streaming for videos. Other updates include the ability to tap a logo to open one's Guide of channels, the ability to add / remove videos from your playlists, clickable links in video descriptions and improved accessibility with VoiceOver. Feel free to hit the source link to dive in, and let us know how it turns out in comments below.

[Source: Engadget]

PlayStation Vita YouTube app gets major update, still contains cat videos

Though we're not sure why anyone would want to watch anything else, we're told that YouTube features much more than just animals being adorable and this video of DMX singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Perhaps you could use your just updated PlayStation Vita YouTube app to tell us -- you can even do so while watching the aforementioned rendition of Rudolph's Christmas classic, as the new update includes the ability to explore YouTube while watching a video. Other additions include the ability to both use and manage channel subscriptions, control video playback using the Vita's buttons rather than its 5-inch touchscreen, enable closed captions (when available), and more. Head past the break for the full list of updates.

[Source: Engadget - Click here to read the full story]

Fresh Videos Coming in 2013

Geekanoids has now been publishing videos for over six years, bringing you the latest tech news & reviews. It is a pleasure sharing this content and all our viewer feedback is appreciated, helping to mould how The Geekanoids Channel has changed & grown.
Certainly for the past 2-3 years the schedule has been hectic, with 1-3 videos published every day (on occasion even more). In meetings and discussions, it has been decided that now is the time to change things & re-focus on production value.

You will find that the channel now publishes fewer videos, between 3-4 per week, with the same great information and opinion on the very latest products. In addition to this, come the New Year, you will see some different type of coverage. Switching up a gear to deliver you, the viewer, something different.

"I feel these changes are necessary", says Dave (owner & video guru). "Pushing out videos is all well and good, but when it comes down to trying to rush reviews just to keep up with the competition, I decided it was time to stop. I find it amazing when, for example, reviews of a mobile phone get published after on one or two days of use. It is impossible to test a product that quickly. Rather than fall into that trap and de-value The Geekanoids Channel content, I decided to take a break away from the norm, recharge my personal thoughts and publish only videos that I am happy to be released. This includes approval of our own productions and the popular guest reviews. From 2013, the quality HAS to be the VERY BEST."

So, to recap, you will see some of the currently recorded & planned videos play out for 2012, followed by a refreshing change in 2013. Keep smiling & enjoy your technology. 

BBC launches Earth Unplugged channel on YouTube, gives us online nature beyond the cat clips

Many would call the BBC the go-to name for nature documentaries; unless you happen to tune in at the right moments or buy a spheroid collector's set, however, it's not always easy to follow along. We'll all have an easier time getting our fill now that the broadcaster has launched its promised nature channel, Earth Unplugged. The streaming video station centers on seven shows that range from the obligatory baby animal segments -- this is YouTube, after all -- through to dinosaurs and looks at nature professionals. Earth Unplugged won't necessarily have us tossing our Blu-ray collections, but it should provide some welcome educational material once we're done watching box-loving cats.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube to cull poorly-performing original channels, 60 percent not getting renewed

Just under a year into YouTube’s original channel venture, it's trimming the content fat. According to All Things D, YouTube will only be re-investing in 40 percent of the 160 or so channels it has financed since the initiative’s January launch. The channels, which range from The Onion to Jay-Z's Life and Times, are an effort to produce original, quality content that the video site can use to compete with traditional cable and network programming, both for viewer attention and advertising dollars. Earlier this year, YouTube pledged an unprecedented $200 million in marketing support for the content.

As for the channels whose deals don’t get renewed, YouTube will continue to keep 100 percent of incoming revenue for those channels that failed to recoup their initial investments. But the decision of which channels to ditch reportedly doesn’t revolve around revenue. Instead, YouTube’s director of content strategy tells All Things D that the company’s primary criteria are cost and total watch time.

[Source: The Verge]

YouTube Campaigns lets nonprofits draw our interest without the telethons

Trying to launch a concerted nonprofit video campaign can feel like tilting at windmills: you might have one moment of undivided attention from viewers before they're off to watch cats and Nigerian pygmy goats. Google wants to make the most of that time through its YouTube Campaigns initiative. The strategy brings on-video overlays and channel sections that show viewers both a progress meter for the campaign as well as a handy links to explore and share what they've found. If all goes well, charities and like-minded organizations get more donations and YouTube views, while we in the general public are reminded that there's more to life than K-pop videos. It certainly beats manning the phones for a celebrity fundraiser.

[Sorce: Engadget]

Felix Baumgarter breaks YouTube record as 8 million viewers watch his space jump

Felix Baumgartner might not have broken Joe Kittinger's world record for the longest time spent in freefall, but he did smash a fourth milestone during his dive. In addition to records for the highest ever jump, longest distance fall and fastest downward speed, the stunt was watched by eight million YouTubers at the same time. While the site hasn't divulged exact stats, that figure is apparently higher than those who watched President Obama's inauguration. That said, if you weren't one of the eight million, you can head on past the break to watch the highlights reel -- unless you're already bored of watching a man fall, unaided, you know, from space.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube scales back automatic Content ID takedowns, improves appeals process

In the last several years Google has become quick to respond to complaints of copyright infringement. Unfortunately, its record in dealing with unfounded claims (specifically on YouTube) is a bit mixed. In particular the process for appealing a Content ID takedown has left many users frustrated and with little recourse in the event of a rejected dispute. And its the content owners themselves who make that decision. Starting today, even if a dispute is rejected, users can file an appeal that leaves a content owner with one of two choices -- recind the complaint or file a proper DMCA takedown notice. To minimize the amount of appeals and disputes Google is also launching an improved Content ID algorithm that identifies potentially invalid claims and places them in a queue to be reviewed manually before takedowns are issued. For more, check out the source.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube And The Olympics: 231M Video Streams And Up To 500K Concurrent Viewers

The less said about the quality of NBC’s Olympics coverage in the U.S., the better, but in terms of the quantity of live and recorded Olympics video streamed this year, the partnership between NBC and YouTube clearly worked out well. Even by YouTube’s standards, live streaming the Olympics for NBC was a pretty massive undertaking and the company just released new data about its Olympics coverage from earlier this month. At its peak, the service pushed out more than half a million livestreams at the same time. On NBCOlympics.com, YouTube says, viewers watched more than 159 million total streams and just over a third of these came from mobile devices and more than 50% were in HD.

In total, YouTube says, its users across the U.S. and 64 countries in Africa and Asia watched a total of 231 million video streams. The IOC’s YouTube Channel alone was responsible for 72 million of these and the “Team USA” U.S. Olympic Committee Channel registered more than 6.75 million views (though most of these views seem to have come from a few select videos and quite a few of the “Team USA” uploads currently have fewer than 1,000 views).

According to YouTube, the quality of the live video was also “better than ever before, with a 7X improvement in quality based on low buffering and high frame rates.” YouTube doesn’t say what exactly it is comparing this year’s numbers to, so it’s probably a good idea to take this number with a grain of salt..

[Source: TechCrunch]

YouTube video editing brings in real-time previews, trims UI down to the basics

YouTube's video editing suite is officially a toddler in human years, so it's about time that it grew a little more beyond learning how to walk and talk. By far the most conspicuous sign of maturity is a new real-time preview that shows edits and filter options as you play -- you'll now know if that effects filter at 1:37 is festive or just gaudy. The overall interface is also a little more buttoned-down with a simpler interface that cuts back on unnecessary clutter. YouTube has been rolling out the editor update in recent hours and may have wrapped up by the time you're reading this, which we'd take as a cue to start producing that streaming masterpiece.

[Source: Engadget]

YouTube app removed from iOS 6 but not iOS 5 and older; Google working on a standalone version

Apple just got in touch with us regarding the removal of the YouTube app in the latest beta of iOS 6, and while it wouldn't say much, it did confirm the obvious: it's not there for a reason. The licensing deal it had with Google "has ended, but users can still use YouTube via the Safari web app." The company did affirm, however, that Google "is working" on another version -- presumably a standalone app that'll have to survive the same App Store approval process as Google Drive, Gmail for iOS and the rest of the bunch.

Interestingly, we were told that the YouTube app "would remain on iOS 5 and older," and that includes iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Granted, the amount of iOS 5 users will dip dramatically in the months following iOS 6's release this fall, but it leaves open the question of compatibility -- will the forthcoming YouTube app for iOS 6 be installable on iOS 5 and older?

All things considered, it's probably a good thing for consumers. Yes, it's another play by Apple to distance itself from its biggest mobile OS rival (Maps, anyone?), but it also gives Google the chance to reimagine the YouTube app, and perhaps even design it to showcase a great mobile experience around the company's huge original content push. Apple wouldn't comment on the status of Google's new YouTube app, nor would it speak to whether or not it had even been submitted for approval, but we're guessing the clock watchers know that September 12th is drawing near.

Update: A YouTube spokesperson has provided us with the following quote: "We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users." Not much to go on, really, but reassuring that the company's actively forging ahead with a new effort. Something tells us it'll take every opportunity to trumpet the awesomeness of its standalone app after being quietly pushed / left out of the latest iOS 6 beta.

[Source: Engadget]