Google is currently carrying out a full-on assault aimed at cementing its place on iOS and Apple devices. We’ve already witnessed the Apple Maps vs. Google Maps conflict, and the latest front in this ongoing war is Capture, a new YouTube app clearly aimed at usurping the current default camera app.

YouTube Capture

YouTube Capture, which will appear simply as Capture on the homescreen of your iOS device, is designed to simplify the process of capturing, uploading, and sharing video clips recorded on mobile devices.

It’s currently only available on iOS for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but Google is already working on bringing the dedicated app to Android as well. Capture gives you multiple options in one complete app, all of which benefits YouTube, and, consequently, Google.

After recording your video clip you can label it, use enhancements such as stabilization and color correction, trim the length, and even add a soundtrack. You can then upload it to YouTube and/or share it with various social networks. All without ever having used Apple’s own camera app.

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The BBC has announced plans to release its global iPlayer app on the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is currently an iPad exclusive. More countries will also be added to the list of territories where the global iPlayer app is available.

Global iPlayer App

Pretty much as soon as the BBC rolled out the iPlayer in the U.K. international viewers declared they wanted in, even if it meant paying to watch the shows on offer. The BBC is known and respected around the world, and some of its biggest shows are worldwide hits.

It took a long time to happen, but in July 2011 the global iPlayer app was released in 11 European countries including Germany, Italy, and Spain. The one caveat (other than the price of subscribing) being the need to own an Apple iPad, the only platform the global iPlayer app was available on.

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Tablets are growing in popularity, and with good reason. The Apple iPad is king right now, but Amazon is ready to unleash its first tablet on the world. And it could compete, partly thanks to online video.

Video On Tablets

People lucky enough to own a tablet computer are likely to enjoy a higher level of engagement with online video than their poor notebook- or desktop-owning cousins. At least according to Ooyala, which provides a range of video services to brands and businesses.

For each minute of video content watched on a desktop, 1 minute, 17 seconds will be watched on a tablet. Which represents a 28 percent advantage. Tablet owners are also more than twice as likely to watch a video to the end, and a third more likely than people watching on mobile devices.

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Life In A Day was a spectacularly well-made look at how different people around the world lived their lives on one day in 2010. But could the same work on a country-specific basis? The BBC intends to find out with Britain In A Day.

Britain In A Day

You will hopefully have watched Life In A Day by now. I’ve watched it twice, once on YouTube and once on the BBC. After it aired on the BBC a trailer for a British-only version was shown. Titled, rather predictably, Britain In A Day.

The BBC is inviting everybody in the U.K. to video themselves on (Saturday) November 12 and upload the results to YouTube. Director Morgan Matthews will then sift through the footage before cutting it into a feature-length documentary film that will be shown on BBC2 prior to the 2012 Olympic Games.

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Most startups struggle to reach any real level of market penetration. But the guys at Justin.tv seem to be making a habit of starting projects which are really becoming a force to be reckoned with. Leading to them being left to fend for themselves.

Socialcam Startup

In the spring of 2011 Justin.tv launched a mobile sharing app that was designed to do for video what Instagram has done for photos. That being allowing smartphone users to share them with others across a range of platforms, social networks, and websites easily.

In the six months since the app made its debut it has become a major player in the market alongside the likes of BlipSnip, Viddy, and Vlix. So much so that Socialcam is being spun off from Justin.tv to be its own, independent entity housed in Founders Den in San Francisco.

Justin.tv co-founder and current CEO will be going with it and taking a small band of select engineers with him. Justin.tv will retain a stake in the new company, with additional funding and backers now being actively sought.

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Thanks to the newly-updated Android Market and Videos app you can now watch movie rentals on your smartphone. Assuming it’s not really old and assuming also that you’d actually want to. Personally, I wouldn’t.

Mobile Video

Mobile video is a growing sector, with the number of people owning mobile devices capable of displaying video in high quality lurching ever upwards. As we all carry our smartphones with us pretty much everywhere we go content is needed to fill the gaps between taking calls and sending texts.

The question is whether anyone wants to actually watch movies or television shows on a screen that’s barely even a few inches in diameter? Google obviously thinks so, which is why it has updated its Android Market Videos app and rolled it out to smartphones.

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BBC Worldwide has finally deigned to bring iPlayer to more than just those of us in the U.K. Unfortunately it hasn’t got the licensing in place to bring it to the United States quite yet.

Global iPlayer App

There has been talk of an international version of iPlayer for some time, with viewers in the U.S. being particularly keen on the idea, even though they know they’d have to pay for it.

America is going to have to wait a little while longer (the US, Canada, and Australia are expected to gain the app within months) but 11 European countries have now been blessed with iPlayer for the Apple iPad. This is seen as a year-long experiment to see how successful a wider and longer rollout would prove to be.

For 6.99 Euros-per-month or 49.99 Euros-per-year iPad owners can gain on-demand access to 1,500 hours of content which includes both new and classic shows. Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, and Sherlock are just some of the shows featured.

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