YouTube looks to transform TV experience, says Varela

Bringing fully featured YouTube to the TV is a key priority for the video portal, according to Francisco Varela, global director of platform partnerships, YouTube, delivering the opening keynote on the second day of the TV Connect event in London. Varela said that version 4 of YouTube’s TV app and the implementation of the Discovery and Launch (DIAL) protocol would help transform the YouTube TV experience over the coming year. 

First implemented through APIs, YouTube decided that the original YouTube TV experience, which delivered standard definition only and was plagued by buffering and poor navigation, was not satisfactory, said Varela. “Searching via [an] onscreen keyboard drives you mad”. Version 4 of the TV platform is therefore based on using only the four basic navigation keys of remote controls. “It’s designed to get you to the video as quickly as possible,” Varela told attendees at TV Connect. YouTube has also implemented adaptive bit-rate streaming to give a better experience, he said. read morehttp://www.digitaltveurope.net/39721/youtube-looks-to-transform-tv-experience-says-varela/