Video Time Machine Goes Universal
June 18, 2011
Original Victories went ahead and made a significant move with their recently released Video Time Machine app, a portal to the YouTube Time Machine web site. Hitting App Store virtual shelves yesterday v1.3 adds native iPad support.
There's nothing new except the native iPad support made possible through a universal iOS app offering, but that in and of itself is big news. As far as my opinion goes, Video Time Machine was a winner out of the gate for the small team at Original Victories. In fact, my only suggestion was bringing iPad support for a true fullscreen capability and native resolution user interface.
For those who've already grabbed a copy of the app, it's time to grab that update. For our readers who missed our announcement of the app, you can read up about it below.
People have uploaded hilarious TV ads, epic sports moments, movie trailers, music videos or song video collages, important world events, and more to YouTube over the years. But how is a person to stumble upon or even find one of these noteworthy pieces of history amongst all of those pet clips? -- Yes, I went there.
With that general thought in mind, a couple of friends came up with what they call the YouTube Time Machine. YTTM allows a person to choose a year, from 1860 to the current, and find top videos and recordings of that year. The database contains more than 10,000 hand-picked videos. The videos are broken down into commercials, current events, movies, music, sports, television, and video games.
Using http://yttm.tv on your computer or even through a browser on your iDevice is okay, but it isn't an effortless experience. In comes Video Time Machine, a native iOS app that provides a portal to the YTTM.tv system.
Video Time Machine provides the same year and category selection as the web site, plus much easier access to other features. After choosing a year and category, swipe left or right on the video preview area or use the green arrow keys in the bottom-right to navigate the videos of that year. Tap the dice button to the left of the arrows to get a randomly chosen video. Upon coming across a video that takes you back, share it with your friends via a tweet or Facebook wall post.
Honestly, if this concept interests you in any way, ponying up a single dollar for the app is well worth it. Even if you're comfortable with the browser interface, the app is efficiently simple and completely painless to use -- until you realize how old you are with the reminder that T2 came out two decades ago. And because the videos are via YouTube, AirPlay support is built right in.
Video Time Machine is a universal app compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch running iOS 3.2 or later, and available in the App Store for $.99. AirPlay support requires iOS 4.2 or later on a compatible iDevice.
