YouTube offers multi-video uploads

YouTube today rolled out the Multifile Uploader, a new tool that lets users send multi-part videos or similar clips to the online video site without manually starting each download. A dedicated program available today for Windows and soon for Mac automatically queues the files without requiring a browser, the company says. No timetable has been given for the Mac software.

In time with the announcement, YouTube has also announced an increase in the maximum file size of each video. While each clip is still capped at a 10-minute length, videos can now occupy as much as 1GB of space. Video no longer has to sacrifice visual quality to reach the previous 100MB ceiling, the Google division says. No indication has been given that the resolution will increase beyond the 320x240 of today's videos. The greater threshhold should be available for all users immediately.

YouTube has increasingly pushed for improved video quality since beginning its partnership with Apple for the Apple TV and iPhone, which required that YouTube re-encode its Adobe Flash-based videos into the more efficient and generally higher-quality H.264 format. The website is eventually expected to play H.264 videos through the normal web portal using an updated version of Flash.