YouTube rebrands TV web portal "YouTube XL"

Whether you call it ten-foot or lean back like Hulu Desktop, putting a TV-ready front end on your website is all the rage nowadays, and after six months of beta, YouTube is relaunching its Wii and PlayStation 3-aimed site as YouTube XL. Now accessible by any browser at www.youtube.com/xl, it's been stripped down to the basics (at the moment, that means no HD, or even HQ viewing option) to make YouTube work on the big screen, plus tweaks allowing control via Bluetooth remotes or some cellphones, like Android devices running Gmote. The HTPC crowd, those living without widgets and other direct access will surely find plenty to love, why not hit up the site right now to try it out?

[Via TechCrunch]

YouTube XL

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 3rd 2009 12:38PM]

"no HD, or even HQ viewing option"

Gee, that's really smart. Those options are pretty important for anyone who is going to watch YouTube on a big screen.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 3rd 2009 1:50PM]

What, you don't want to watch grainy, old-school YouTube videos on your HDTV? COME ON GUYS. Seriously, someone wasn't thinking here.

"...that means no HD, or even HQ viewing option) to make YouTube work on the big screen..."

Is it just me, or does that statement completely contradict itself?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 3rd 2009 2:39PM]

I tried that interface with my PS3. Maybe if you had an old tv you might want to use it, but otherwise, I thought it was awful and I quickly went back to the regular interface.

[cremnopedia Posted Jun 3rd 2009 4:57PM]

I watched "where the hell is matt?" on both my Vista HTPC and my PS3. It's in HD on the HTPC and nearly unwatchable SD? on the PS3. So the "no HD" info is not entirely correct.

My PS3 has a heckuva time with Youtube. The hard drive thrashes interminably and it takes forever for thumbnails to display, much less the video. Even after it's downloaded, there seem to be frequent pauses in playback.