If you read our first impressions of the iPhone yesterday, you already know we walked away quite impressed with the YouTube experience over WiFi. So it should come as no surprise, then, that other carriers and device manufacturers are already hoping to ape the iPhone’s YouTube functionality. Hot on the heels of its “Google Phone,” LG has announced it “… will unveil a mobile handset that fully supports the YouTube service for the first time in Europe in the second half of this year.” Allegedly, the handset will allow users to not only watch YouTube clips but to also record and upload them. Seeing how we don’t yet know when the iPhone will land in Europe, LG could very well beat Apple to the 3G YouTube punch in the old world.

Meanwhile, Helio, the folks who brought you mobile YouTube first, have sent a text message to Ocean users, announcing free access to their 3G video service, which includes YouTube. Like the forthcoming LG device, the Ocean allows users to upload videos recorded on the phone directly to YouTube for sharing.

For more on the LG YouTube phone:
– see this article from Pocket-lint

For more on Helio’s free YouTube access:
– see this Gizmodo article