Joost Invents Semi-beta, Semi-commercial Internet TV

Joost, labeled as the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service, was commercially launched Tuesday, May 01, 2007 09:00 AM PDT - while still in beta mode.

The brainchild of Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, Joost has been available to beta testers since earlier this year. I was admitted into the ranks on April 5 and sent a link to download the player. I did right away, not reading the fine print ... it only worked on Intel Macs! NOT COOL! I fired away a request for a universal version, so far without success.

Now anyone can use the Internet television service, IF they have a beta tester friend. (Translation: be nice to me.). That means I can invite friends and colleagues using the 'Invite Friends' tools in the "My Joost" zone. As long as they have Intel Mac-s or PC-s.

On the bright side, over 150 channels are already online. Some you will definitely recognize:

Beauty TV
Best of National Geographic
BoomChicago
Brazilian Music Channel
Bridezillas
Chat the Planet
Comedy Central
GameStar
Guinness World Records TV
IndieFlix Premier Hits
IndyCar Series
Intimate & Interactive
Lime
MTV
Music Nation
Red Bull
Reuters
Spike TV
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit on Demand
The Hobby Channel
The Horror Channel
The Recipe Channel
The Silent Movies Channel
The Soccer Channel
Travelistic
Warner Bros. Records
Etc...

Also, more than 30 global advertisers -- including the usual suspects like Coca-Cola, HP, Intel, and Nike -- have signed up to fund the project. Adverts are due to appear on Joost broadcasts later this month. Can't wait!!!

Here is our official beta tester banner:





and Joost's video promotion:





This is a QuickTime movie. Download the player if you don't have it yet - this video is worth it. Click here to watch it!

Broadcast credit: Joost

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