YouTube – the world’s largest video-sharing site – yesterday upgraded its mobile offering amid claims its mobile site (m.youtube.com) is now receiving more than 100 million video playbacks a day, and also announced plans to enter the TV space. The Google-owned site has updated its mobile site to promise faster speeds along with the ability to create playlists, designate favourite videos and receive search query suggestions. With the upgrade, YouTube appears to be aiming to steer iPhone users away from the application that comes preinstalled on the Apple smartphone.  In a blog post, the company said: “As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.” Of course, Apple and Google are fierce rivals, so this may further stoke acrimonious flames. The amendments come as YouTube saw playbacks on the mobile site grow 160 percent in 2009 over the previous year. The 100 million daily statistic is about the same number as YouTube.com was streaming in 2006.

Meanwhile YouTube also yesterday unveiled a new feature called YouTube Leanback which provides a large screen viewing experience on a computer and will also be integrated into the upcoming Google TV. “YouTube Leanback is all about letting you sit back, relax and be entertained,” YouTube said in a blog post. “Videos tailored to your interests play as soon as you visit the site and they play in full screen and high definition, continuously. There’s no need to click, search, or browse… Watching YouTube becomes as easy as watching TV.” Google TV, developed in partnership with technology titans Sony, Intel and Logitech, fuses the Internet with television programming and was unveiled by Google in May. Analysts believe YouTube’s latest moves are evidence it wants to dominate every screen where content can be viewed and created.