LG To Offer YouTube on Mobile Phones

LG Electronics has announced it will offer handsets with a built-in YouTube client, beginning later this year.

LG Electronics has announced it will begin offering mobile phone handsets with an integrated YouTube client later this year, enabling users to tap into the Internet’s largest video sharing community. According to LG, the application will enable users to discover and view video, as well as upload new video directly to YouTube.

“This new service will connect people like never before. For the first time, LG customers will be able to film, upload and view videos on YouTube using their mobile phone just as they would be able to from their home computer,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, in a release. “With this agreement, LG is continuing to drive forward wireless internet services as well as consolidate its technology leadership in the mobile industry.”

The agreement isn’t the first between Google and LG: back in March, LG announced an agreement to pre-install Google software on mobile handsets, with the LG-KS10 (currently available in Italy) being the first fruit of that agreement. LG also has agreements with Yahoo to pre-install Yahoo mobile applications and services on selected handsets.

LG says it will develop the interface for its YouTube application, and handsets pre-loaded with the software should be available toward the end of 2007. Although LG’s applications ought to work regardless of carrier, phones LG markets specifically through carriers often only bundle software and services specific to that carrier, so an LG phone which offers YouTube connectivity with one carrier may not with another.

Of course, Apple’s iPhone was the first to announce (and ship with) a dedicated YouTube client. Verizon also offers access to YouTube via its VCast service, although browsing capabilities and upload access are limited.