YouTube Launches HTML5 Video, Music Service, and New Design

What a week on YouTube. First, they launched an experimental version of an HTML5-supported player in TestTube. This new player means that the user no-longer needs a Flash plug-in to view YouTube content. Although the majority of users already have Flash installed on their machines, this will speed up playback, as HTML is the native language for browsers. I've had a chance to play around with it, and there are a few limitations with the experimental version.

1. It's not available in all browsers yet. If you are using Chrome, Safari, or ChromeFrame for IE you can start using it. Firefox, Opera, and IE users will have to wait.
2. It doesn't support videos with ads, captions, or annotations yet. If you are viewing a video that has those, then YouTube will automatically switch over to Flash.
3. It doesn't appear to support HD playback yet. We'll see what happens in the next few months - I bet that all the issues above will be resolved by April. Vimeo also launched an HTML5 player this week.

YouTube also launched a music discovery service that will compete with Songza, Pandora, and Last.fm. We're big Songza fans at Martini, but I LOVE the URL youtube.com/disco. The search button even says "Disco!" Yes, complete with an exclamation point. I entered "Hot Chip" (then pressed "Disco!"), and YouTube listed all of Hot Chip's videos and started playing the video for "Ready for the Floor," the first on the list. There was also a band bio section, related artists, and a suggested "Mix Tape" with Hot Chip and other titles I might like. Like the other services, I can save the songs I like in my playlist. Pretty impressed so far.

The last major announcement is their redesign. They've done away with the 5-star rating system and replaced it with like and dislike buttons, which makes more sense since that's how people think. There is also a much greater emphasis on sharing (bigger buttons) and viewing related videos (related videos now take up the whole right panel). Saving and statistics also received a greater emphasis. There is no longer an "HD" option - that has been replaced with 360p, 480p, and 720p, perhaps reflected the growth of HD content online and a more video-savvy audience. The new design can be seen here, you can opt out by selecting "Return to the old YouTube" in the upper-right corner.