Google announced Sunday that it would add functionality to the YouTube experience on Google TV, including complete channel pages and the ability to browse by channel.
Currently, users can search by topic area — comedy, for example — but the search returns individual video results rather than the channels users see on the desktop version of YouTube. Accessed through Google TV, YouTube also currently lacks the channel pages available on the desktop.
After the updates — which Google TV’s Facebook page says will be available “in the next few days” on the Android Market — watchers will be able to scroll through videos by a particular user using the arrow buttons on their remote. The company blog post announcing the changes also says that users will be able to comment on videos.
Sunday’s announcement follows news last Thursday that Google will reportedly market a branded device for streaming music and video. Some analysts met the rumor with skepticism, however. Avi Greengart, a consumer devices analyst at Current Analysis, said it was unlikely that the software giant would return to its abandoned efforts to peddle a set-top Google TV box. Even so, it’s clear the software company is endeavoring to heighten its profile as a multimedia provider.
Google did not immediately respond to a request to comment.