Apple says iPhone to access YouTube content

Reuters

Apple
Inc.’s widely anticipated music- and video-playing iPhone will allow
subscribers to wirelessly stream material from Google Inc.’s
popular video-sharing site YouTube, Apple said
on Wednesday.

YouTube,
which has developed a huge audience on desktop computers but is not widely used
on cell phones, has begun encoding its videos in a new format to improve
quality and save battery life when viewed over wireless devices.

The iPhone
will be the first mobile device to use the new format, Apple said. More than
10,000 videos will be available on the iPhone when it hits stores on June 29,
with more material added each week, it said.

AT&T
Inc.
has an exclusive deal to sell
iPhones with its wireless subscriptions.

While the
phone will not support AT&T’s highest-speed cellular data links, Apple said
YouTube would work well on the phone’s short-range Wi-Fi network connection.

Prior to
the development of the new mobile format, Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon
Communications and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), had an exclusive deal to offer a
selection of YouTube videos on its phones.

Verizon
Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said YouTube has been one of its most popular
mobile video offerings, frequently taking the top two or three viewership
slots.

Apple said
YouTube also works on its Apple TV home media hub, which acts as a bridge
between a television and desktop computer, playing movies and TV shows.