--Rental Program Kicks Off This Friday with Five Movies from the Sundance Film Festival
In a posting on its corporate blog, Wednesday afternoon, YouTube announced that it is introducing an "experimental version" of an HTML5-based video player. YouTube recently used its blog to canvas users on what kinds of new features they would like to see on its video sharing service, and, according to the company, the "number one request was that YouTube do more with HTML5." HTML5 is "a new Web standard that is gaining popularity rapidly and adds many new features to your Web experience," YouTube's blog posting explains. "Most notably for YouTube users, HTML5 includes support for video and audio playback. This means that users with an HTML5-compatible browser, and support for the proper audio and video codecs can watch a video without needing to download a browser plug-in." (Note: Until now, YouTube users have had to have the Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed in order to view videos on the service.)
YouTube cautions that its new support for HTML5 is still an "early experiment," and that it has various limitations: for example, it does not currently support videos with ads, captions or annotations, and it requires a browser that supports both the video tag and H.264-encoded video ("currently, that means Chrome, Safari and ChromeFrame on Internet Explorer," the company says). However, it says that it plans to expand the HTML5 player's capabilities in the coming months.
The new HTML5 player can be accessed through YouTube's TestTube program (which allows users to try out experimental applications and features) and has its own dedicated Web page. The company says that it can be used in conjunction with its platform's experimental Feather feature, which is designed to make video watching on the platform faster.
YouTube also announced on its blog, Wednesday, that it is partnering with the Sundance Film Festival to make five films from the latter's 2010 and 2009 festivals available for rent (for $3.99 each) to US users on its platform starting this Friday, and running through January 31st. In addition, it says that it plans to offer a small collection of rental videos from other US partners across different industries (including health and education) in the weeks ahead; and that, at the Sundance festival, it has put out a call for independent filmmakers to join its new rental program. Users can rent the videos offered under the new program via their Google Checkout accounts. According to YouTube, content owners participating in the rental program "can decide the price of their videos and the rental duration; they can decide when and where their content is available; and they can keep 100% of their rights." (Note: On Wednesday, YouTube also confirmed that it has signed a deal to offer live streaming coverage of Indian Premier League cricket--see the article published on itvt.com, January 20th.)
