Helio Puts YouTube On Its PlaylistHelio Puts YouTube On Its Playlist

Youth-oriented wireless carrier Helio on Wednesday launched a YouTube application on its Ocean mobile phone that lets users do a lot more then just access and watch videos.

Helio, which runs its business as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator or a reseller of wireless services, said its goal is to provide a comprehensive YouTube experience to its subscribers. Unlike most other mobile YouTube applications, Helio is offering full access to the YouTube community.

The application is available on Helio's Ocean phone at no additional cost and it allows subscribers to capture video on the Ocean and upload it to YouTube, GPS-tag videos, as well as rate and comment on videos posted on YouTube. Since Helio uses a third-generation cellular network, subscribers can upload and stream video at reasonably fast speeds.

The geo-tagging capability in the application uses the Ocean's built-in GPS, which enables subscribers to send GPS coordinates with their videos.

"Helio has taken the mobile YouTube experience to the next level. This innovative application offers people even more customization and provides them with instant access to interact with the YouTube community whenever and wherever they go," said Chad Hurley, YouTube's CEO and co-founder, in a statement.

Apple's popular iPhone also comes with a YouTube application. However, users only get the option to watch videos (that are categorized as "featured" and "most viewed"), bookmark videos, and share them with others. iPhone users can't comment on YouTube content or upload their own content directly from the application. Additionally, the iPhone doesn't support 3G technology, so the video-streaming experience can be sluggish at times. It's faster over Wi-Fi connections.

LG Electronics offers the KU990 Viewty in Europe, which the manufacturer has tagged as the "YouTube phone." The phone can record video at up to 120 frames per second that can be edited and uploaded directly to YouTube.

The Ocean costs $200 with a rebate and a subscription to Helio. The phone has a dual-slide screen, and comes with e-mail, text-messaging, and instant-messaging capabilities, Windows Media Player for music, and an HTML browser.