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Google launches peer-to-peer YouTube vid sharing, only in India

No mission to civilise, just cheaper downloads for cricket vids and family fun

Google's decided that India needs its very own YouTube, so has cooked up something called “YouTube Go” that permits peer-to-peer video sharing.

Details of the new app are sketchy, but the bits aimed at India are the ability to preview videos before downloading them and advance warning of file sizes. Vids can be saved to a device's storage .

There's also a promised feature allowing the ability to “Share videos with family and friends without using data”.

And all that will be offered to Indians first: the other 5.5 billion of us have of us have to wait.

Google's signup page features screen shots of YouTube listing Bollywood movies and a biopic about M.S. Dhoni, a national hero for his feats as captain of India's cricket team*. The announcement of the service explains it's the result of "testing prototypes with hundreds of people across 15 cities." The service has therefore been designed to work under difficult network conditions, even 2G, that many Indians experience.

Google's trying to show Indians a good time by making it easier to watch stuff they like, in the process acculturating them to YouTube as the place to find the content they desire.

That's a rather different approach to Facebook's seeming mission to civilise India with its Free Basics plan.

To the victor goes the spoils! ®

*Yes, we know Dhoni is currently skipper of the One-Day international and T20 teams. We simplified things above because explaining cricket takes time.

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