Joost Beta Preview: The Best TV Online?

Written by Editor in Chief, Pick The Brain - 21 Comments
Categories: internet culture

Although I normally stay clear of crowded tech topics, I’ve decided to do a short review of Joost because they made me feel special by giving me access to the private Beta version.

This is also the next step in the convergence of television and internet media. The success of Joost could have a big effect on how we watch TV in the future.

So what is Joost? This is the description from their site:

Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.

Sounds great doesn’t it? But how well can they deliver?

Picture

Definitely not bad, but I wouldn’t call it a high-quality full-screen picture. It looks great at small sizes, but in full-screen mode the quality is pretty low. I’d put it on par with the quality you get when watching shows on NBC or ABC websites.

Update: On second glance the picture looks a lot better than I thought. Definitely better than nearly all internet video.

Channels

Here is a list of the channels currently available:

  • Comedy Central
  • MTV
  • GameStar TV
  • IndieFlix Premier Hits
  • Fight Network
  • The Soccer Channel
  • PokerHeaven TV
  • Bite TV
  • Off the Fence Docs
  • Saturday Morning TV
  • Live @ Much
  • Guiness World Records TV
  • LX.TV
  • Lime
  • TERRA: The Nature of Our World
  • Braindead
  • JumpTV Arabia
  • Fifth Gear Shortcuts
  • Havoc Action Sports TV
  • What’s Popular
  • Warner Bros. Records
  • IndyCar Series
  • Lazy TV
  • National Geographic
  • Joost Suggests

That’s a pretty long list, but besides Comedy Central, MTV, and National Geographic, there aren’t any big names. Still, I think they’ve done a good job assembling entertaining programming (fights, music, action sports) that will appeal to a young base of users.

At the moment the number of available shows is still very low. Most of the ones they have listed aren’t working yet, but I expect this to change once they launch the public version.

The Interface

Here is a shot of the full screen interface.

This is a shot of the channel menu interface.

This is a shot of just the main control panel.

My initial impression of the interface is good. It’s intuitive, I didn’t really have any problem navigating between channels and shows. It is a bit slow though when switching between programs, but still much quicker than moving between videos on YouTube. Hopefully this improves in the final version.

Ads

I haven’t watched enough to be sure, but it looks like Joost places short ads within the content and possibly at the end. This is very similar to what they do on the network sites.

It definitely creates a TV like experience. The one hang up is the amount of content and the quality of the picture. I can’t wait for the day when computer and television are integrated into one monster machine.

So far I like it, and could see myself watching shows on Joost IF it has the programming I want. Who knows if it will take off, with competition from Apple TV and the already popular video sites. Regardless, TV is coming online, and line between online and traditional media is getting even blurrier.

  • http://tvguideblogs.info/joost-beta-preview-the-best-tv-online/ guide » Joost Beta Preview: The Best TV Online?

    [...] Atma Brother ONE <info@goldenstateofmind.com> wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJoost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping. Sounds great doesn’t it? … [...]

  • http://screensaversblogs.info/joost-beta-preview-the-best-tv-online/ savers » Joost Beta Preview: The Best TV Online?

    [...] dave wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptDefinitely not bad, but I wouldn’t call it a high-quality full-screen picture. It looks great at small sizes, but in full-screen mode the quality is pretty low. I’d put it on par with the quality you get when watching shows on NBC or … [...]

  • Other Ryan

    I got the beta yesterday. I like it for the most part. I just wish there were more content, especially on the Comedy Central channel.

    I gave up TV about a year ago. Just too damn expensive. But I miss watching shows like Daily Show, Colbert Report, and South Park. Now especially since the YouTube crackdown.

    I’m sure Joost will get more content out of beta. But for now, even with some of the other channels, it’s just not that interesting.

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    Yeah, I totally agree. It has a lot of potential, I wonder if you will ever have to pay a monthly fee for it?

    I’d love to say good bye to a ridiculous capable bill and watch all my favorite shows online.

  • http://satellitetvblogs.info/joost-beta-preview-the-best-tv-online/ tv » Joost Beta Preview: The Best TV Online?

    [...] Atma Brother ONE <info@goldenstateofmind.com> wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJoost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping. Sounds great doesn’t it? … [...]

  • Tony

    Someone send me an invite please!

    tonylewis42 AT hotmail.com

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    A few other people have asked about invites. I looked around the Joost website a bit, trying to figure out how to do it, and couldn’t find any way.

    I think they might not be allowing any more invites until a newer version comes out. But if I find out that it is possible, I’ll send you one.

  • http://techloaf.com/index.php?/archives/24-Best-of-Web-2.0-Blog-Carnival-April-9,-2007-Edition.html Randy Bryan

    Great article. Thanks for participating in my Blog Carnival. PLEASE INVITE ME TO JOOST!!!

    Thanks!
    Randy

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    I just logged into the Joost site and searched around a bit, but I couldn’t find any way to send people invites.

    Do you know if there is a special section to do this? If I can figure out how I’ll gladly send you an invite, but I’m not sure Joost is allowing it at this point.

  • cheviot

    Complete lack of content. Problems connecting to Joost. i.e. unable to connect to the network.

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    Very true. Content is what’s going to make or break Joost.

  • http://www.guerrillacomm.com Herbert

    Thanks for the great review. Any chance to send me an invite to guerrillacomm at comcast dot net

    Thanks

  • André Rosa

    Bonjour !
    Je suis français et j’aimerais pouvoir télécharger Joost beta. Je sais qu’il faut recevoir une invitation pour ce faire… alors si quelqu’un peut m’aider, ce serait tres apprécié.

    Merci d’avance et au plaisir de continuer a vous lire sur ce blog…

    André Rosa

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    Andre,

    Maintenant, je pense que n’est pas possible envoyer une invitation nouvelle a Joost. J’ai essayer mais san succes.

    Pardon my poor French, but thanks for giving me a chance to use it.

  • http://www.helicopter-ak.com Alomeroc

    Inexpensive and good helicopter.
    helicopter AK 1-3 http://www.helicopter-ak.com

  • john vilanova

    I don’t think this JOOST guys are for real,
    why put a web site to wacth tv , but you can’t get in????
    and if you know some one that may invite you , how they get in on the first place??
    any way would be wonderfull to try!!! (if is truth))

  • Cristy

    Great article. PLEASE INVITE ME TO JOOST!!!

    Thanks!

  • http://www.joostlist.com Paul

    For those of you who are curious here is a Joost video guide and they give away free invites. JoostList.com

  • Alex Martins

    if anyone would like a joost invite email me
    exodus.k(at)gmail.com

  • name

    dude.. capable bill? you are stinky.

  • Makaku

    Does anybody have a list of the tv shows Joost beta version had. I remember watching a show but can’t find it anymore.. it was a sci-fi show