Android phones to get YouTube video upload capability

Google announced this week that version 1.5 of its Android operating system for mobile devices will include the ability to record videos and upload them to YouTube. T-Mobile USA is expected to make the update available to U.S. customers by the end of next week, according to CNET.

The question for Google and YouTube is whether this will lead to a revenue opportunity for the online video juggernaut, or if it simply means an extra wave of low-quality, user-generated videos will flood the site and drive it further from profitability. To upload a video using their Andoid device, users will have to have a YouTube account, which will give YouTube more actionable demographic information about how the service is being used. But the amount of videos that could potentially be uploaded as Android proliferates is significant, because it is unlikely YouTube is going to be revenue positive on advertising around these videos.

It makes you wonder if Google has a kickback arrangement with T-Mobile for all the data users will move with this video function, because incremental revenue from increased Android phone sales due to the video record function will not offset the bandwidth and storage YouTube will have to use to enable it. 

For more:
- see the CNET story on the Android video capture feature here 

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