Will Skype founders destroy Youtube with new net TV service Joost?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 16 January 2007 18:13

Your IT - Entertainment

Joost give me a minute to tell you about a new net TV service in town, from the founders of Kazaa and Skype, and no prizes for guessing that it uses peer to peer technology to deliver a broadcast quality TV experience right to your computer screen.

Ever wondered when Internet TV quality would go beyond the sub-VHS quality seen on sites like Youtube to the more high-def experience capable on the latest TVs and supported by TV networks around the globe?

Of course, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 delivers this in the US through the Xbox Live video download service, where users can choose to download TV and movie content in both standard and high-definition (where that choice is given).

But now the founders of Kazaa and Skype, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, are putting their peer to peer knowledge and wizardry behind the delivery of broadband quality TV to your desktop, with the TiVo like capabilitu of being able to rewind and fast forward through programming.

You’ll also be able to instantly change TV channels, start programming whenever you want to (i.e. video on demand) and access it all through an on-screen TV guide/menu that makes finding content easy.

Naturally, the service, which was codenamed ‘The Venice Project’, is still in trial mode, with only a limited selection of content available, and none of the big names in content on board just yet.

There’s also big competition from a range of other video sharing sites, from Sony’s Grouper to Google’s Youtube and Google Video services, through to video offerings from Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and many others.

According to an article at the BBC on the new project, Joost is “designed to enable broadcasters to get their programmes in front of a global internet audience”.

The BBC also tells us that Joost’s chief executive, Frederik de Wahl, who was “showing off the service in Joost's London offices, claimed that it provided a different experience from other internet television ventures”.

de Wahl told the BBC that: "We are trying to replicate the complete television experience," he explained as he flicked through channels using the Joost interface on a widescreen television. It's full-screen, broadcast quality, you've got instant channel flipping, and interactivity - a viewer can come to us and get all their TV needs."

Frederik de Wahl has a previous connected with the Skype founders, too – his previous business had peer-to-peer software which was used in Skype, so it sounds like a pretty knowledgeable trio at the top of the company wanting to make broadcast quality Internet TV a reality for anyone with a computer and a broadband connection.

So what is Joost's website, and how do you sign up for the beta? Read onto page 2 to find out, and for the conclusion...