Did she really kiss a girl? Ask Katy Perry a question!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 08:03 AM PDT

Perhaps you've seen Katy Perry kissing girls, waking up in Vegas or parodied by the YouTube community. More recently, she's been spotted cavorting with hip-hop superstar Snoop Dogg (along with life-size Gummy Bears and multi-striped snakes) in her latest "California Gurls" clip.

Well, now she's putting that day-glo fantasy life on hold to answer your questions:

You have until midnight PT on July 18 to submit a video or text question to Katy's channel (www.youtube.com/katyperry). Everyone will be able to vote on the questions until July 18, and Katy will answer the most popular in an exclusive Q&A as conducted by YouTube's own Lisa Nova. We'll put the interview on the homepage shortly after it's edited and uploaded to YouTube.

Fire away!

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, recently watched "Key of Awesome #22"

YouTube Leanback offers effortless viewing

Posted: 07 Jul 2010 05:25 PM PDT

A click here, a search there, a browse on this page -- sometimes it can take more than a few flicks of the wrist and finger taps to get your daily dose of video. Luckily, YouTube Leanback wants you to conserve your energy for actually watching more videos. Mmm...more videos...

Just as its name implies, YouTube Leanback is all about letting you sit back, relax and be entertained. Videos tailored to your interests play as soon as you visit the site and they play in full screen and high definition, continuously. There's no need to click, search, or browse, unless you want to, of course. Watching YouTube becomes as easy as watching TV.

To see what we mean, go to www.youtube.com/leanback, and you'll note that a selection of videos -- your "feed" -- plays immediately. This feed is based on your YouTube settings and preferences, including content from your subscriptions and videos your friends are sharing on Facebook (assuming you've connected your YouTube account to your Facebook account). You can also watch the most popular comedy, entertainment, news, or more. And if you don't care for the video that's playing, use the right arrow key on your keyboard to skip ahead to the next video, or try the up/down arrows to search, access player controls, and browse channels and videos. You won't need your mouse for this experience.

Here's more about how YouTube Leanback works (we'll also show you how to hook up your Facebook account):

YouTube Leanback is currently in beta, but we'd love for you to try it out at www.youtube.com/leanback and let us know what it's like to kick back and revel in the endless stream of YouTube entertainment!

Kuan Yong, Senior Product Manager, recently watched "Life in a day."

YouTube Mobile gets a kick start

Posted: 07 Jul 2010 01:02 PM PDT

It's well known that the mobile Internet is huge and growing fast; what's surprising is exactly how fast. According to a recent report, within five years more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably: playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we're excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.

We launched YouTube on mobile devices in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available on the mobile site (m.youtube.com). While this suddenly opened up the possibility to access videos on the go, our site, mobile browsers and the hardware had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop. Today, more than ever, we know that you want to be able to find and access your favorite videos wherever you are. That's why we're rolling out an updated version of the mobile site. Here's what's new about it:

It's really fast.
The user interface incorporates larger, more touch-friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go.
It incorporates the features and functionality you've come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists, the ability to designate "favorite," "like" or "unlike" videos directly from your device.
As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you'll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.

As the world continues to go mobile, we think this is a great improvement for users who want a more consistent YouTube across many devices, no matter where they are. We're launching in English only today, but will be rolling it out in other languages in the coming months. You can access the latest YouTube mobile site from your iPhone or Android browser. To learn more, visit m.youtube.com to check out the latest improvements and take a minute to watch this demo video: