YouTube Sinks Into The Helio Ocean

Helio's new YouTube application for its Ocean smartphone enables users to log into YouTube, geo-tag videos, enter ratings and comments, and - of course - watch videos.

The Apple iPhone may have garnered some attention by adding a capability to watch content on popular video sharing site YouTube, but the iPhone YouTube viewer—along with most similar features available on other mobile devices—suffers from what many see is a critical flaw: YouTube fans can’t log in to YouTube. Although they can watch videos and peer at the profiles of their friends (and enemies), they can’t give ratings, enter comments, or otherwise participate in the YouTube community. It’s like they can see YouTube, but can’t touch it.

MVNO Helio wants to change all that with its new YouTube application for its Ocean smartphone. The new application—downloadable to Ocean users for free—enables users to log in to YouTube and participate in its community features. What’s more, users can upload new videos—like video responses—and even use the Ocean’s built-in GPS to geo-tag their videos.

“Accessing YouTube while on the go has been limited to browsing and viewing, without the rating, sharing and personalization features that have made YouTube a runaway hit on the Web,” said Helio CEO Sky Dayton, in a release. “Helio is taking mobile YouTube beyond anything else on the market, letting members view tens of millions of videos but also giving them true community interaction comparable to the Web and even beyond the Web.”

The YouTube application enables users to rate and comment on videos, subscribe to channels, save videos to playlists and My Favorites, send favorite videos to friends via address book integration, and upload videos directly to a personal channel.