Monday, October 15, 2007

Joost: TV Online

I downloaded the beta version of Joost. I was not expecting much but it turned out to be quiet impressive. For those who have not heard of it, it is an online streaming media player that functions similar to a Tivo.

How it works: You must sign up for an account and agree to their terms (The only thing I saw that made me cautious was that when I read through the user agreement you are allowing them to use your pc to share content, meaning bandwith and cpu power, and you are allowing them to target you with ads. The ads are only utilized while in the program itself such as commercials or a few popups that are only in the program itself). After you agree, they have a nice user friendly interface that looks extremely sleek. There are channels that you can choose ranging from National Geographic to Fighting to Sports to Drama to ________. I saw a channel for almost everything. If you want to watch it, just click it and it plays. If you don't know what it is, click on the "i" for info and it will bring up a description of the channel. Each channel has several shows on it that are specific to that channel and they add more daily. You can fast foward through a show and you can skip to the next one. You can search for certain programs such as "Saturday Morning Cartoons" and you will get the good cartoons from back in the 80's. You can search for Transformers and get the good episodes from back in the 80's. Like G.I. Joe? They have their own channel. Do you like baseball? They have it. Like "The Onion Network"? They have it. They also have up to the minute news from the major networks and not so major networks and a plethora of other programming from around the world and here.

It is from the makers of Kazaa, but completely legal and legit. The onscreen ads are integrated and and non-invasive so I wouldn't let that stop you from giving this a try. Oh, make sure you exit the tray icon when finished or your cpu and internet will be utilized for bandwith. Make sure you have a decent internet speed though.

Let me know your thoughts if you give it a go.

1 comment:

misawa said...

TV Links is a web-based alternative. They gather TV shows, documentaries, cartoons, and even some movies that are available on the web through places like YouTube, Stage 6, etc. Some of the sites are based overseas, so they'll have subtitles in Chinese or French.