YouTube has changed the default size for embedded videos. By default they’re getting bigger at either 480×385 for a 4:3 video, or 640×385 for a 16:9 video. YouTube says it went with these sizes, because they will give most viewers the best viewing experience because they better match current video encoding sizes.

"A video’s life on YouTube is just the beginning; embedding gives it a life off of the site. Just look at your favorite blogger and they’re likely to be embedding YouTube content in their posts," says YouTube Senior Web Developer Geoff Stearns. "In fact, almost every popular video on the site is first made famous by embeds on the Web. That number can be as high as 50% of views in the first 48 hours, kicking off a great cycle."

"When using the ‘Play in HD’ option, it’s best to embed the player at a very large size (at least 1280×745) in order to accommodate the large size of the video," says Stearns. "If you play HD video in a small player, the user’s computer will have to scale down the video to fit within the player, costing the user extra CPU cycles and bandwidth, which may result in choppy playback. It’s always best to play the video size that best fits the size of the video player. And if you want even better performance when watching HD content, you can choose to watch it in full-screen."

When users click the embed code, on a video page, they will be able to choose the following for the video player:

- The color and size
- Whether or not to include related videos
- Whether or not to display the player border
- Whether or not to play in HD by default — triggers video resolutions of 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080p)

This week YouTube also expanded its auto-captioning program. This is a tool  that combines some of the speech-to-text algorithms from Google’s Voice Search to automatically generate video captions when requested by viewers. More on that here.

YouTube has doubled the size of what users are now able to upload at a time. Until now, users were only able to upload 1GB, and now they can upload 2GB. This means longer videos with higher resolutions.

YouTube product manager Ryan Junee also points out that users can upload large HD files directly from their cameras. Essentially this means, we will start seeing a lot more quality (at least picture-wise) videos on YouTube.

Junee shares a couple tips for linking to and embedding HD versions of videos:

- To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

-  To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the ‘customize’ button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check ‘play in HD’. The embed code that’s generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853×505) for maximum enjoyment.

The increased uploading limit should do nothing but make YouTube a better place to watch videos. The more high quality content that is uploaded, the more people will be likely to stick around and watch more of it.

YouTube has doubled the size of what users are now able to upload at a time. Until now, users were only able to upload 1GB, and now they can upload 2GB. This means longer videos with higher resolutions.

YouTube product manager Ryan Junee also points out that users can upload large HD files directly from their cameras. Essentially this means, we will start seeing a lot more quality (at least picture-wise) videos on YouTube.

Junee shares a couple tips for linking to and embedding HD versions of videos:

- To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

-  To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the ‘customize’ button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check ‘play in HD’. The embed code that’s generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853×505) for maximum enjoyment.

The increased uploading limit should do nothing but make YouTube a better place to watch videos. The more high quality content that is uploaded, the more people will be likely to stick around and watch more of it.

YouTube has doubled the size of what users are now able to upload at a time. Until now, users were only able to upload 1GB, and now they can upload 2GB. This means longer videos with higher resolutions.

YouTube product manager Ryan Junee also points out that users can upload large HD files directly from their cameras. Essentially this means, we will start seeing a lot more quality (at least picture-wise) videos on YouTube.

Junee shares a couple tips for linking to and embedding HD versions of videos:

- To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

-  To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the ‘customize’ button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check ‘play in HD’. The embed code that’s generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853×505) for maximum enjoyment.

The increased uploading limit should do nothing but make YouTube a better place to watch videos. The more high quality content that is uploaded, the more people will be likely to stick around and watch more of it.

MySpace has partnered with Toyota to launch a music competition for unsigned bands or solo artists to submit an original song for the chance to land a recording contract with MySpace Records.

The competition called "Rock the Space" runs today through July 1. Those interested in entering can visit Toyota’s MySpace Music profile for submission details and contest rules.

To enter the Rock the Space competition artists are required to submit an original MP3 demo. Contestants will be able to create a viral music widget with an embed code to share their music on MySpace and the web. MySpace users can participate by adding the music widgets to their profiles and commenting on the Toyota Music profile.

In July, MySpace Records will select five finalists who will be featured on the Toyota Music profile and MySpace members will vote to choose the winner. The five finalists will receive a media allocation to promote themselves with My Ads advertising on MySpace.

The Rock the Space winner will be announced in September and will receive a recording contract as well as a $10,000 musical instrument prize package provided by Fender. The winner’s song will be available for download on the MySpace Music Homepage. The four runners-up will receive a MySpace Records Development Deal friends package.