Thoughts on new YouTube video player, the layout.

I recently read in the YouTube UK blog about the new video page layout on YouTube. I managed to get it at college, but I couldn’t get it at home. However I only recently found out that it’s an “Opt-in” kind of deal. So I gave it a shot, and I was impressed.

The first think you will notice how minimalistic it looks. This is great, as those with slower internet connections will not have to wait for ages for a YouTube video to load.

Moving on now, the video description is under the video it’s self, I think that it is a lot better there. Because most people don’t even read the description, having it under the video will draw more attention to it. It also saves space on the right hand side. Which can be used to add more features. The view count has also been placed there.

Next thing, is that all of the YouTube user data is at the top (In simple terms the channel of the user who uploaded the video), next to that link there is a menu where you can see all of that users recent videos. Another feature that I like, saves space on the side bar and I don’t have to keep scrolling down all the time. The Subscribe button has been placed above the video as well. I think having the button there makes more sense, you can just watch the video and then click subscribe without having to scroll around to the right to subscribe.

If you are the uploader of that video, you’ll also get all the video editing options (for the descriptions), and you can also add anotations from there. It is placed above the video title.

 

Now onto the ratings. It seems YouTube have opted for a facebook “like and dislike” system. Instead of the old rating system. I quite like that because it is simple and it means that people can tell you whether they like the video or not without having to be confused about all the 5 stars stuff.

YouTube have also added a share and favourite button under the video as well.

Finally, onto the comments section. They have added an “Attach video” feature to the comments, instead of having a separate section to post a video comment. Really good feature, as it has more integration with the comments section.

 

That is not all that this new layout has to offer. I didn’t cover everything since most people don’t want to be reading on forever. I did cover the major changes.

Overall;

The layout is nothing short of amazing. It has been laid out really well and it isn’t hard to find where everything is. This is the one update that YouTube have gotten right in the past year.

App Review – Flast.FM (Online social music networking)

By now you have already heard of last.fm. It's a free music social networking site, it allows you to listen to and discover new music. I find that this service can’t be beaten.

Anyway, this is about the iPod touch/iPhone app for it.

Price
Since the Application is free there is no need to give it a negative rating, at the end of the day having the application for free is a lot better than paying for it.

Usability
The Application was not designed for socialising on the site, it is more music orientated than it’s PC/Mac counterpart. All you’ll be able to access is the music radios, and search engine. the application does the same as it’s PC/Mac counter part, you can search for artists and start a new station with music by similar artists.

The search engine (as displayed above) works how you would expect it to work. It’s also quite fast, so that’s a plus.

When you have found an artist(s) you can then activate the radio screen, however this is where it starts to slip believe it or not. Crash issues and slow downs are quite common while listening to the radio stations even on a full wireless signal which leads me to believe it is the application itself that is at fault here. This is what might put you off the application in the first place. However, if you can manage to work around the issues with the radio player it’s self then it works great, but take into account that the slow down’s and crash issues will also affect the entire application it’s self.

After selecting an artist the station will be saved to the main home screen, so when you open the application up you can chose the artist station you want to listen to without having to search for the artist(s) again.

 

Overall

Bad points

• Suffers from crashes and slowdowns too often
• No offline mode
• No way of buying/downloading tracks
• No social networking of any kind
• Eventually runs out of music to play on a station
• Lack of ability to comment on an artist

Good Points

• Works exactly the same as the artist radio stations on the PC/Mac Counterparts
• Search engine is easy to use
• Recent stations are automatically saved to main menu
• Whole application is easy to use
• Can save separate songs to a play list.

App score – 6/10
The crash issues and slow downs need to be solved.

News: I’ve become a writer on Duncsweb

I’ve been posting comments on Duncsweb for a while now. I really like getting involved with what people post on there.
Today I was contacted by the owner of the site DuncanM and he asked me if I wanted to start writing on there, I accepted his offer and I am now part of the duncsweb team. I am very happy and honoured to be given this position, and I will continue to produce content for the site.
You can view my profile here.

My advice, is to be involved, you can't expect to be noticed, if you do nothing to get noticed. You have to be in it to win it.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to posting more content both on this blog, and on Duncsweb.

Blogger in Draft – My thoughts.

As many of you already know, I’ve done a major overhaul of the look and feel of the blog, I was sick of using the old templates.
So I decided to give blogger in draft a try, and use the new template designer, that is supposed to allow you to adjust each aspect
of the blog. It has also given me the option to add “Pages” to the blog, these are not blog posts per se but they allow me to dedicate an
entire page to one subject, instead of getting it mixed up with other unrelated blog posts.

Blow is a screen shot of the new template designer interface

Personally I think it is fantastic that it allows me and many other users to make a professional looking blog, I have yet to find a single fault with it.
I have to say that Blogger has done a fantastic job here. It’s worth checking out if you have the time.

What do you think?

Hi there everyone.

I just want to ask what you think of my YouTube videos and my Blog here on Blogspot.

• What needs improving
• What am I doing right
• What do you want me to make a video on

I ask this of you as I need you to help me so I can help you. I always want to create content based on audience feedback.

If you have any video ideas send them to illage2@googlemail.com and I will get back to you. Keep in mind that while I do not respond to all the E-mail's I get I do read them all. So don't be offended if I don't respond to you straight away.

I am also holding a competition as well. If you think you make a better channel banner and a better video page banner than I have done, submit them to illage2@googlemail.com and I will use the Winner's designs.

Thanks for taking your time to read this blog.