VIDEO: YouTube Leanback wants your TV

Full screen, TV friendly YouTube channel

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8 July 2010 9:33 GMT / By Paul Lamkin

YouTube has gone revamp crazy. Not only has the internet video giant updated its mobile site, it has also launched a new service aimed squarely at the living room - YouTube Leanback.

Leanback is a full screen, HD service that is optimised for big screen TV viewing. Unlike the original YouTube site, you won't see text or comments - it's more like a YouTube TV channel.

When you open the service a video automatically starts and when that video is done, another begins. You can skip videos using your keyboard's arrow keys - there's no need for a mouse with YouTube Leanback.

Your video "feed" is based on the videos you have liked, unliked and added to your favourites - so you'll need to sign in to make it work. You can also link your YouTube account to your Facebook one to see what your friends are watching. If you've rented movies on YouTube you can even access these.

If you get fed up with your personal feed you can view the most popular videos in channels like sports, news, music and entertainment. You can even create a channel with a search query.

With more and more people hooking up dedicated PCs to their TVs, YouTube Leanback is a long time coming. YouTube XL was a bit, well, rubbish, but Leanback seems to work.

YouTube Leanback is currently in beta, but give it a go and let us know what you think.