Amid Mobile Video Competitors, What’s YouTube’s Stake?

Nishat Kurwa on Thursday, Aug. 2nd

Yesterday, we tracked Socialcam’s rise as a competitor to native mobile video apps for smartphones. YouTube has been the leader in online user-generated video, but that lead position hasn’t translated to mobile creation. Only about four percent of the videos uploaded to YouTube are mobile.

In the podcast above, I spoke with Francisco Varela, YouTube’s Director of Global Platform Partnerships, about its evolving mobile strategy. As Socialcam’s Michael Seibel did in our interview this spring, Varela emphasized YouTube’s focus on enabling more video creators and frictionless sharing of what they make.

He also said that YouTube is expanding mobile video in emerging global markets like Brazil and India where the environment is similar to the U.S. mobile video space four years ago. Varela said YouTube is working with operators in these countries to bring down the price points of data plans and enable a smooth mobile experience for a growing user base.

francisco varela • Michael Seibel • Socialcam • YouTube

Contributors

All Day Play • Youth Radio • First Love America • Closet Tour • The Recollective • Davey D's Hip Hop Corner • Tilapia Film • Of Note Magazine • Favianna • Discolorations • Youth Speaks • Jonathan Poritsky • Lucas McNelly • Angry Asian Man • Mike Belleme • Black Folk Don't • Vocalo Very Smart Brothas Us Ordinary People Son of Baldwin • Radio Pocho

Partners

freeq

Hangout w/Jesse Vigil, Game Designer [Freeq]

Now streaming: the archive of our Google Hangout On-Air with Jesse Vigil of Psychic Bunny, one of the designers of the new audio adventure game FREEQ (iOS/Android).

Sponsors

luck1

Watch This: To The Last, Dir. Matt Luck

We’ve featured dancer Matt Luck’s work before.

via: Sifteo

Sifteo Cubes: Blurring the Edges of Play

I first encountered Sifteo Cubes back at IndieCade last October, and spent some time playing around with the little blocks which I first mistook for iPod Nanos.

lighting

Lighting Is An Underestimated Art

Over the weekend I was having a conversation about the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum that’s been announced.

present-shock

THE WEEKENDER: PRESENT SHOCK

I’m going to go out on a limb here and promise you that this will be the first of two posts on Present Shock, the Douglas Rushkoff book that has been getting a mountain of attention in the tech press since it was released earlier this month.

placeholder

Avatars by Sterling Adventures