News: The blogosphere is buzzing with news that YouTube is testing a new, sleeker video player. The new player will do something that Google’s video player already does right now: you can fast forward immediately to any part of the video (you don’t have to wait for progressive downloading anymore). Also, the new player has a very sleek looking user interface that gives you thumbnail screen shots of “Related videos” flashed across the bottom of the screen of the video you are watching. You can see the new look here and here.
Analysis: I’ve been waiting for the fast forward function to be improved on YouTube, since Google already had that capability (using an updated version of Flash video). The addition of screenshots of Related videos at the bottom of the video screen looks way cool.
