YouTube Inc, the popular online video sharing site, said today it hopes to launch a service for wireless devices within a year.
Chad Hurley, YouTube chief executive and co-founder, told an advertising conference that offering video services on mobile phones was a key opportunity for the company.
"Withinthe next year we hope to have something on a mobile device, it's going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we're dealing with, it's a natural transition," said Hurley.
Hurley was speaking at the OgilvyOne Digital Summit in one of his first public engagements since the announcement last month that internet search leader Google Inc is to buy YouTube for US$1.65 billion ($2.48 billion).
In May, YouTube launched its YouTube To Go service to enable users to upload clips directly from their mobile phones to view on the website on their personal computers.
Already many of the clips seen on YouTube are captured by users with their cellphones. A new mobile service could enable users to share videos with others in the YouTube community directly via their phones.
YouTube allows users to upload and share personal video clips but has come into conflict with record labels and television companies in recent weeks. Some YouTube users have illegally uploaded copyrighted videos such as music videos and TV shows.
Viacom Inc. sent YouTube a letter last Friday asking it to remove certain clips of its popular Comedy Central shows by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Hurley described YouTube as the market leader among its peers in upholding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and said it has removed videos as soon as the company is alerted by a copyright owner.
"We streamlined the DMCA process by building tools, we were the first ones to automate that process," Hurley said.
YouTube's huge popularity with over 100 million clips viewed every day has prompted media companies to reconsider legal threats.
Last month, on the same day it announced its acquisition by Google, YouTube said it had signed content deals with entertainment companies including Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Entertainment, and CBS Corp. It previously had announced a similar deal with Warner Music Group.
Sony BMG is a joint venture of electronics maker Sony Corp and Bertelsmann.
