Tech Shout!

Vodafone Group has just announced a new service that will allow its mobile customers to view and upload videos on to YouTube, the popular video sharing web site. In fact it was only earlier this week that Vodafone announced a similar deal with MySpace.com and eBay Inc.

Basically, YouTube mobile users will be able to view a selection of videos that are updated daily, forward their favorite links to friends, and upload their own videos directly from their mobile phones.

The mobile YouTube service will first be launched in the U.K. Here customers. In the near future Vodafone also plans to launch the service in other European markets.

A Vodafone spokeswoman said these mobile Web 2.0 services are “absolutely” part of the company’s strategy to add brands it believes will meet customers’ needs. “We’re continually looking at what customers are doing on the Internet and the way that they are using their phones and the way they want to use their phones,” she added.

Vodafone said that YouTube, which is facing growing pressure from content owners over the huge volumes of pirated material available on its website, would be responsible for ensuring bootlegged clips were not shown on mobiles.

The mobile YouTube service from Vodafone can be accessed through the Vodafone Live WAP portal, which is currently available on 4.7 million handsets in the United Kingdom. The service will however be officially launched sometime later this year.