CosmicPanda

Posted by: Sean | Posted on: July 9th, 2011 | 0 Comments

Over the last few weeks Google have been updating everything! All their websites from Google, to Maps to their new social network Google+ & the new look Gmail, everything has changed and i was wondering if they would touch YouTube. Today i saw that Google have been working on a huge overhaul for YouTube and from what i have seen so far, its a great update. The new update is code-named 'CosmicPanda', i have had a quick look at the main new features which come with this next update to YouTube. There are 3 main parts that i would use with the new update and they have introduced huge GUI changes. The sections which have changed the most are user profiles, the video page where you actually watch the videos and then they have also updated playlists slightly.

Each user as you know have their own channel, if you are a partner with YouTube you are allowed to change the default thumbnail of each video to any image you like, with the new update to the channels it takes advantage of these pictures, the channel page shows the latest videos uploaded just by displaying the thumbnails of the videos. There are a few different options you can have for your page now, one is to simply show all the video thumbnails, another is to show a list of  you playlists. Below is how the old YouTube channels look with the new version below it (click them to see a bigger version!)

  A huge difference as you can see, but looking through other YouTube channels will give you a better feel of the other options that are now available to YouTube users! If you haven't already noticed, Google have also updated the navigation bar, its much more simple looking.

The page itself where you watch all your videos has been given a big update. The video player bar is now black along with a large black strip going the full width of the screen behind the video, the black strip works on the same principle of the 'turn the light off' feature a lot of sites use, it makes you focus more on the content they want you to, such as the video. The related videos to the right of the page have also been changed to a list of related thumbnails. Images old and new below! (click them to see a bigger version!)

  The third big change that has been made to the site is a feature of the video play page too, it is the playlist feature. Instead of having an annoying video strip along the bottom of your screen as a pop up, it has now been change to a video strip below the video. Images below old and new (click them to see a bigger version!)

I really like the changes that have been made. Another great thing that you can now do is when you are watching a video, you can click into your account page or go onto the channel of the video you are watching or onto another persons page who has a left a comment on the video you are watching, if you do thing the video you are currently watching will continue to play at the top left of the page! After you are done browsing you can click the video again and it will bring you back to the video page! One of the greatest features of this update i think, but it would be great if it worked the same way if you try to search, at the moment it does not allow it.

A great change for YouTube, you can read about these features on Googles support fourms. You can also opt in yourself if you want to have a good look at this new update, all you have to do is go to http://youtube.com/cosmicpanda and click Try it Out!

YouTube Redesign

Posted by: Sean | Posted on: April 2nd, 2009 | 2 Comments

On April 16th there will be a new design released for YouTube.  The reason that they have decided to change YouTube is so that they can better monitize there site and catch up to industy standards.  The major thing that will change on YouTube now will be the menu bar, they are completly changing how you navigate the site, they are doing away with the current menu bar and will be replacing it with one that will closely resemble the Hulu menu bar.

Instead of having Videos, Channels & Community they will now have four tabs: Movies, Music, Shows and Videos. The first threee tabs are going to have premium content , just like hulu, which will offer tv-shows and movies, although YouTube have yet to announce what they will be broadcasting in these sections, they say that they are in the process of setting out new contracts.

Also in the final tab 'Videos' this will house the current YouTube as you know it, they are cramming all there current content into that tab, so all user created content will now be under the video tab away from the main public view, this is YouTube trying to break free from there current trend of amateur and semi-professional videos.

And now the videos will be interrupted for in-video ads, just like hulu. And the video player should be receiving a new design, much like that too of hulu which will offer you the option to 'dim the lights', this is when the background page is darkend and the focus is directed more to the video, YouTube have been experimenting with this over the previous months and it has been popping up on certain videos. Also the video timeline will display little lines to show where the ads will be showing throughout the video.

The release of this was originally scheduled for next week but has been pushed back to April 16th, there was no explanation given on why this was done but it is thought that it is due to ongoing negociations with potential partners.

This new upgrade is considered the "Hulification Of Youtube", very true since most of the changes are coming from design techniques that hulu use. I think it is about time that they are going all out with YouTube now however i think that they might end up neglecting there current customer base more and focus on premium content, now they are really just thinking of there pockets and not there online community. Hopefully the premium videos they add will not be limited to the US, like hulu do, hopefully YouTube will make them available throught the rest of the world.