Download Monkey

Who's it from?

Joost is from the same people who made Skype and Kazaa.

Where can I find it?

www.joost.com

What does it offer?

20,000+ TV shows, 400+ Channels (so they say). Its a strange mix of short clips, tv programs and news channels. Some of the bigger names include: Babylon 5, ITN News, Snoop Dogg and the History Channel.

So?

Joost runs as a desktop application and can be downloaded from the Joost homepage. Joost offers on demand video programming and is much like your television, however you can choose what to watch, and when to watch it. The application uses p2p technology, so as you watch video you will also be sharing video. This could mean you see quite a high use of your bandwidth even though your video is paused or stopped. The download and install was straight forward (Joost is available for Mac and Windows), unfortunately launching the application for the first time caused it to crash. I have also noticed that the application takes a long time to start, this is possibly due to it connecting with the p2p network? It would be great to know if other people have this problem.

Once the program fired up I had to make an account with Joost. Creating the account went without a hitch but I could not help but wonder why they needed my details? It turns out that Joost has a social aspect too, you can chat whilst watching TV with other people watching the same channel. You can also use your account to blog (to applications such as Wordpress) and create your own channels. There are two things I like about Joost: the first is that Joost is free, however, there are video advertisements placed between and during programs as well as small ads that slide on and off your screen (yes that gets very annoying). The second thing I like is the fact that the video just plays. You do not need to wait to download any of it. The video streams straight to your machine and plays instantly. It finally feels like TV. Putting those two great things aside for a moment, there is plenty not to like about Joost. The interface is terrible: its slow, nunresponsive, buggy (Im currently stuck on the History Channel) and very unintuitive. I will press a button without a clue as to what it will do. Nothing is explained and menus appear all over the screen. My next complaint would have to be with the quality of the programmes available (not visual quality). The programs I have found (on the History Channel) are short clips, only a few minutes long. I would not really call this programming, it feels more like a teaser channel for something better... except I haven\'t been able to find anything better. My final gripe is with those pushy adverts that pop into your viewing window and disappear again. They are distracting and interrupt your viewing.

Speed and Quality

The speed is excellent (it is instant!) and the quality is pretty decent too. At full screen the video is quite clear (better than most of what you find on sites like YouTube) which is quite an achievement considering the video is being streamed. Its a long way off from HD, but it feels to be a step in the right direction. Joost has a social aspect too, you can chat whilst watching TV with other people watching the same channel. You can also use your account to blog (to applications such as Wordpress) to and create your own channels.

There are two things I like about Joost: the first is that Joost is free, however, there are video advertisements placed between and during programs as well as small ads that slide on and off your screen (yes that gets very annoying). The second thing I like is the fact that the video just "plays". You do not need to wait to download any of it. The video streams straight to your machine and plays instantly. It finally feels like TV.

Putting those two great things aside for a moment, there is plenty not to like about Joost. The interface is terrible: its slow, unresponsive, buggy (Im currently stuck on the History Channel) and very unintuitive. I will press a button without a clue as to what it will do. Nothing is explained and menus appear all over the screen. My next complaint would have to be with the quality of the programmes available (not visual quality). The programs I have found (on the History Channel) are short clips, only a few minutes long. I would not really call this programming, it feels more like a teaser channel for something better... except I haven't been able to find anything better. My final gripe is with those pushy adverts that pop into your viewing window and disappear again. They are distracting and interrupt your viewing.

Speed and Quality

The speed is excellent (it is instant!) and the quality is pretty decent too. At full screen the video is quite clear (better than most of what you find on sites like YouTube) which is quite an achievement considering the video is being streamed. Its a long way off from HD, but it feels to be a step in the right direction.

Download Monkey\'s conclusion...

Joost still has a long way to go before it will reach mass acceptance. The whole package feels unpolished (it just crashed again) and the interface could do with improving. Joost also suffers from the same fundamental flaw as Miro... its lacking decent programs and at the end of the day that is what matters. There is lots of talk about Joost in the press at the moment, talk of set top boxes, web versions and better content. If / when this happens I think Joost could become a leader in TV over the web, until then, its just more fodder for your applications folder.

Download Monkey's conclusion...

Joost still has a long way to go before it will reach mass acceptance. The whole package feels unpolished (it just crashed again) and the interface could do with improving. Joost also suffers from the same fundamental flaw as Miro... its lacking decent programs and at the end of the day that is what matters. There is lots of talk about Joost in the press at the moment, talk of set top boxes, web versions and better content. If/when this happens I think Joost could become a leader in TV over the web, until then, its just more fodder for your applications folder.

Joost Review by elev3n

April 2008