What YouTube is still thinking about, other startups have done before it can: bringing the user-gen videos on mobiles. I bet there are other applications out there that can enable it as well.
Orb Networks, a TV place shifting software (competing with the likes of Slingbox) plans to offer videos from YouTube or any other video sharing site on mobile phones with a new software launch this week, reports Reuters.
The new software version lets them view, search and create media channels from the Internet and direct it onto cell phones and laptops from these sites. Here’s how it works: Users who come across a video on Web sites such as YouTube can click on a button dubbed “Orb This” installed on their Web browser. That choice will transfer the link to the Orb Web menu and make it available for viewing on phones.
However, Orb’s new programs can also only be used on advanced smartphones like Motorola’s Q model or Nokia’s N80 phone, and won’t work for a wider audience of users with less sophisticated phones.
According to reports, YouTube is holding talks with Verizon to make its videos available on cell phones and TV.