Soon you'll be able to watch your favourite YouTube clips on your mobile. At least, you will if you live in the US and are signed up to Verizon Wireless.
The American internet and mobile provider is to be the first company to offer a mobile phone with a built-in version of YouTube, specifically developed for mobiles.
"Everybody carries a phone with them, but they may not have a computer," said Steve Chen, chief technology officer and a co-founder of YouTube.
"People can take the phone out of their pocket while waiting for the bus" and watch a video, he added.
$15 monthly contract
Unlike YouTube online, which is free to use, the mobile version of the popular video website will be paid-for.
To be able to view video clips, users need to be signed up to a VCast contract at Verizon Wireless. The monthly fee for the contract is $15 (about £8). There is no cost to watch or stream video.
A limited number of video clips will be available. YouTube editors will select an unspecified number of videos that will be made available for mobile viewing. The clips will be adapted for Verizon Wireless customers.
The service will be available in the US next month. If and when we will get to see YouTube in UK mobiles remains to be seen. The collaboration presented today means that Verizon Wireless has exclusive rights to the mobile version of YouTube for a 'limited period of time'.
Kelly Liang, senior director of business development at YouTube, said the company plans to introduce other similar deals to the YouTube partnership within the coming year.
Less appeal
One question is whether the limited selection of videos on the service will undermine the basic appeal of YouTube, which has grown popular in part because users decide what they want to watch.
But Allen Weiner, a web publishing analyst with consulting firm Gartner, said he believed that the short bursts of escapism provided by YouTube would translate well to the mobile phone.
However, Weiner added he did not believe the deal alone would be enough of a selling point to attract new customers to Verizon.
"It's not going to be a driver of new subscribers," Weiner said. "But it will give people who are considering the video service component something to think about." Anna Lagerkvist
