Joost is a free streaming video, like a free IPTV, or free Online TV, like youTube with application of its own but it has a controlled content which means real full featured episodes of drama, comedy, sports, kids, entertainment, lifestyle, etc.
Joost has lots of channels to choose from, lots of programs at each channel, every program have a long list of episodes, it has a neat sexy UI, it incorporates viewers interaction, rating, favorites, news, summary info, bursting notification of hot content that might interest you etc.
Joost is a startup that being managed by a Skype founder, so if the quality and delivery we saw in skype available on Joost? almost, the TV show quality is not HDTV (just yet) and more like divx the early years, so it won't be amazing on a 42" LCD but it should do, since its free and there is more to come in the near future. (warner has joined the game so you know it's going to get interesting)
go to the Joost site and download a Mac version, it will mount a dmg file that will appear on your desktop looking like this:
(even the mount icon is sexy), next you will see this screen telling you to install Joost by dragging the Joost icon to the left Applications icon (they took care of every detail, perfect - they didn't invest only in windows users)
next you can execute the application and a cool dock icon appears:
the Joost splash screen appears:
followed by a login screen (only first time):
next you will see a "connecting" indication screen:
then a screen indicating what content is being loaded:
some times (rarely) you might get an error saying the connection is lost:
if all goes well you will immediately start watching the content:
(notice the visible controls that fade out after 5 sec and fade in when mouse moved or keyboard pressed)
there is also the channel view that looks like this, allowing you to search, register, go to category, read quick info and see a thumbnail:
Joost is free, have good content, very stylish UI and user friendly interface, good community awareness (although needs more like plugins to existing communities, or list of viewers, co-viewing, etc.).
here is a movie displaying the UI of Joost (the content streaming seems slow but it is because of the sampling and capturing while streaming):
the equivalent for free online TV (that i know of) are:
- Vuze (that comes built in to Azureus - covered in this post)
- JetSet (freeware client for the Epic-Fu.com site)
- and some sites that try to deliver (not all legal, and none compare to Joost)
http://www.streamick.com
http://dynamic.abc.go.com (if you are a US resident)
http://dynamic.abc.go.com (if you are a US resident)
http://zattoo.com (for certain areas)
http://www.indietv.tv (the indipendent TV revolution)
if any of the readers know of good apps/sites that gives you free TV, please leave a link as a comment - thanks.
and as always - Enjoy.
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