YouTube has begun to offer a click to download option on select videos. The downloaded mp4 videos are encoded in the iTunes-friendly H.264 format, and are sized with a maximum width of 480 pixels to maintain compatibility with most portable media players, such as the iPod and iPhone.
The feature mirrors a prior download feature offered on Google Video, which had not been brought over to YouTube. Currently, the most obvious source of downloadable videos appears to be President-Elect Barack Obama’s Change.gov channel.
It is unknown whether YouTube plans a more expansive rollout of the download option.
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