SAN BRUNO, Calif. – YouTube’s latest product gets the Google-owned video portal closer than ever to a real television experience.
Officially touted on the company’s blog today, YouTube Leanback eliminates the pesky clicking and tapping required to watch videos on the site.
“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,” reads the blog entry. “There’s no need to click, search, or browse, unless you want to, of course. Watching YouTube becomes as easy as watching TV.”
Navigation is done not with a mouse or touch-pad, but with the cursor arrow buttons on the keyboard (which are similar to the arrow buttons found on most TV remote controls).
And as more of those televisions are connected to the web, the more users will be able to use Leanback (still in beta) for a traditional TV experience.
At www.youtube.com/leanback, a registered user’s feed plays immediately, based on existing YouTube settings and preferences, including content from subscriptions and even any videos your friends are sharing on Facebook (assuming users have connected their YouTube account to their Facebook account). You can also watch the most popular comedy, entertainment, news, or more.
Check it out. It’s good, and fast. Imagining it working with professional television content, with specifically targeted ads sent according to the user’s preferences, isn’t hard.
