Microsoft is getting involved with the European Union’s antitrust investigation regarding Google, mostly regarding the lack of information Google provides search engine competitors for indexing YouTube videos. But even more interesting is Microsoft’s claim that their app is lacking because Google won’t provide the Windows Phone 7 team with the necessary data for the YouTube app that the versions on Android and iOS have.
Second, in 2010 and again more recently, Google blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube. Google has enabled its own Android phones to access YouTube so that users can search for video categories, find favourites, see ratings, and so forth in the rich user interfaces offered by those phones. It’s done the same thing for the iPhones offered by Apple, which doesn’t offer a competing search service.
Unfortunately, Google has refused to allow Microsoft’s new Windows Phones to access this YouTube metadata in the same way that Android phones and iPhones do. As a result, Microsoft’s YouTube “app” on Windows Phones is basically just a browser displaying YouTube’s mobile Web site, without the rich functionality offered on competing phones. Microsoft is ready to release a high quality YouTube app for Windows Phone. We just need permission to access YouTube in the way that other phones already do, permission Google has refused to provide.
What’s that story again about the pot calling the kettle black? Or the one about stones and glass houses? [Microsoft via Business Insider]
Sicarius123
Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 5:26 PMUh… The iOS youtube app fkn sucks. The mobile site is a million times better.
Kroo
Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 10:15 PMBoo freakin hoo. “The worlds against us”. M$ have become a standing joke in the IT world and when google release Chrome OS, they’ll be crying even louder. M$, good at selling licenses, that’s all.
.
Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 10:26 PMwell maybe they should stop bagging android then.
and why should google have to?
so microsoft you going to give google xbox functions like wf7 then?
Thomas Power
Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 9:59 AMGet Iphone/Android device, problem solved.
psy
Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 4:23 PMI don’t get it. On all HTC devices, the youtube app is brilliant. Since the youtube app is created by HTC, it means it’s exclusive for their devices.
The other phones can only access the mobile version of the website.
So how can HTC do it?
Scott Whitmore
Monday, April 4, 2011 at 2:46 PMI was thinking the same thing. 3rd Party YouTube Apps work fine.
Also, isn’t Android open source? Can MS just go and look at the code?