Log In | Register
I had all but given up on getting an invite to become a Joost beta tester, but my invite arrived on Friday while I was at work and I've had little opportunity to try it until today.
What is it?
It turns your computer into a TV set that gets content streamed over the Internet. It only streams, no downloading in advance. To overcome the bandwidth challenges, it uses peer-to-peer technology related to that used in KaZaa and Skype. Note that Joost is brought to you by the creators of the above-named technologies.
Does it work?
In a word, yes. You get acceptably smooth full-screen TV on a laptop. Modest amount of compression artifacts - it's not like playing a DVD. I have though noticed a tendency for streaming to start noticeably macro-blocky then improve as you watch.
I suspect the designers are using a variable bitrate system that allows streaming to start at lower quality, to avoid the usual delay with streamed content while you wait for content to "buffer". There is still buffering going on in the background and as the buffer gets big enough to support higher quality the bitrate increases and the picture improves.
If you're not familiar with the idea of buffering, it works by delaying start of playback until the PC has collected all the frames of video that correspond to say the first minute of the show. It then starts playing with the computer carrying on receiving video frames roughly a minute ahead of what is actually being played back. That way it can absorb a temporary hold-up of up to one minute in Internet streaming delivery without impacting playback at all.
What is there to watch?
Not much to be honest, but it is still in beta. There are plenty of channels and shows but it's National Geographic type stuff, car reviews, some interviews with rock stars, some rock concert footage, a few indie films.
Not exactly a washout but hardly compelling content for beta testers. Still it's about testing the technology. The worthwhile material will come when Joost is launched. A deal with Viacom was announced last month.
When is Joost launching?
May.
Any issues?
I couldn't use Joost from the office because of the firewall/proxy, which is fine by me. I can run it from my laptop anywhere. I've just checked it out from a free public wifi in central Manchester.
I can't though run it from my ageing PC at home. It complains it can't connect to the network, which is odd because I can use it from my laptop over my domestic wifi, so it's not like it's a problem with a blocked port on my router. Reading through the forums there are quite a number of people having technical problems and it can fail to work for no very logical reason.
Verdict
Joost may struggle to resolve all the technical glitches by May but I guess it will work fine for the vast majority of users with recent equipment. For those people the experience will be fine and the interface is very nice and user friendly. With deals being done for decent content I think this may well be a hit.
There is streaming only, no recording, but what you get is a menu of shows not a time-based broadcasting schedule so there is no need to record anything. You can't though record anything "for posterity".
Can you have an invite off me?
No. Apparently I now have to earn my right to give away invites by using the service. To date I have 0 invites available.
