You haven't heard about Joost? No? Well ... have you heard about Kazaa, then? Or Skype? Both were industry shaking, ground breaking software, completely revolutionizing the way we consume music and talk.
Joost is made by the same guys.
They say it'll revolutionize the way we watch TV.
So a couple weeks ago I received an invite to the Joost beta test (don't ask me why - I just love being part of betas. I still have my Vox 'beta tester' button ... somewhere). I downloaded the software and launched it ... waiting to see what the heck it was all about.
The startup screen looks oddly retro - great dazzling neon on black. And it's fullscreen - like the rest of the program.
It then prompts you to log in, saving your settings and doing so automatically the next time you load it up.
Now for the good stuff ... the shows themselves.
Joost displays a selection of channels (Gamestar, MTV Staying Alive) ... and then the shows in each of them. You can scroll through with the My Channels button on the left of the screen, select a show and then wait as it loads up. Streaming is obviously an issue here - but Joost's creators have enough experience in delivering content over the net to make it worthwhile ... all the shows I watched had good video quality, and was smooth as long as my blaardy Streamyx remained cooperative.
It sure beats watching Youtube in your browser.
Now you may be asking: so what? Joost is about the same as my Astro ... ain't it? Joost certainly has functions that are typical to your average cable setup - the info button at the top of the screen pops up to give you some background on the show you're watching.
But there's more.
A My Joost section allows you to chat with users on the same channel. You send invites to your friends here, as well as a plethora of other 'widgets' - feed readers and clocks and Instant Messaging. Not particularly sure how this works - why would I want to stop a music video to ask opinions of it? It may be a novelty at the moment - Joost is definitely going somewhere with this section, and I can't wait to see what they do.
The selection of shows and channels are quite a disappointment. You sense they're aiming for geeks with the beta - there's Indy Cars and Fight Network and The Soccer Channel. No food or lifestyle shows. No cartoons (alright, that's just me talking). Sad, sad, sad.
But I've a feeling they're taking this places. These guys didn't become rich for launching mediocre software - I won't be surprised if they get Disney to sign on soon enough.
Till then, I'll be happy watching 22 grown men kicking balls on my computer screen. Or two guys punching the hell out of each other. Such utter testosterone oozing out of my screen.
Wow.
You must excuse me now. I've got Good Charlotte talking about sex in the other window, and I don't want to miss it.
The end.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Joost Reviewed
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5 comments:
I downloaded it!!! But I forgot about it too.
*Goes to check it out again*
Ahhah. Well - not all computers can handle it. You need a good graphics card and a fast connection.
I've a fast connection. Only problem is the stability.
someone bloody giv me an invitation please
ahh is it open beta yet? i read it over a magazine that day and yeah i'm impressed after looking at your screenshots... i'm sure not long later they'll have some real cool channels signing up, mayb having some anime or food or *ahem* sex channels lol.
another drawback that i see is that there's no window mode... then cannot do other work and watch at the same time lor, have to let the programme dominate the screen. darn. no more blog reading while watching movie.
I think it's possible, actually - I did something the other day and suddenly Joost was like a normal window. Maybe double clicking the screen or something, not sure.
And yeah, it's open beta now, so no need to give out invites, Kubuk. ;P
Anime channels! Yeah I've forgotten about those! I was actually expecting food channels. XD
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