Fun Friday
You’ve probably heard of Joost by now. It was started by the brains behind both Kazaa and Skype, and it seems to have exploded into popularity out of nowhere, particularly after Viacom turned on YouTube and greeted Joost with open arms. Joost is the newest way to distribute TV shows and video using interactive software. Development began in 2006, and was code named “The VeniceProject.”
Currently they’re in the invitation only beta process, so if you want to try it out, you’ll have to have an invitation. Because this is our “Fun Friday” feature, we wanted you to get in on the fun too. The first five people to leave a message in the comments below will get an invite! 
—Setup—
After you get an invitation, you’ll be able to download Joost and complete the setup. It supports both Windows and Intel Macs, and the setup is quick and easy. Within minutes you’ll be on your way to watching one of their 26 channels.
—Using Joost—
Joost will automatically start in a full screen mode which may surprise you initially. You can switch between full-screen mode and window mode with just one click. The image below shows what the screen looks like when you first start a show.
The user interface uses big buttons that are easy to use. You’ll notice basic controls like play, pause, and volume controls, as well as an “information” button which will give you info about the program you are watching.
There’s also a standby button which will minimize the program into your system tray, and a search feature that will allow you to search for a particular program.
You’ll have the option of selecting a channel from their channel catalog, and from there you can use the arrows on the right side of the screen (pictured below) to scroll through the offerings for each channel.
—Improvements—
One of the biggest improvements that they can, and probably will make is more content. There are currently 26 channels of content, but many of them you probably wouldn’t find much interest in. They do have a few big names like MTV, and Comedy Central. You’ll find other channels like Poker Heaven, The Soccer Channel, Guinness World Records TV, and Warner Brothers Records.
—Quality—
While it’s not like watching TV on your high definition TV, it’s certainly a step up from the quality that YouTube offers, and I’ll take that. And of course they have to make money somehow, and they do that via commercials and ads. In a way this does take away from the experience, but they have to make their money somehow. Because it’s a free service, there’s really no room to complain.
If they can add quality content to their list of current offerings, Joost will definitely be a big hit. It’s free, and easy to use. If you want to have some fun and try it out, the first five people to leave a comment (be sure to include your email address in the email field) will get an invite!
are you kidding me?
Interesting. I wonder what kind of TV shows will be up … old ones which have passed the ‘TV’ phase, or new and latest ones which will work to get people to notice them?
Let’s see
it sounds good. i’d like to try it
Sounds great!
Oh, I haven’t included my email…
i’m doing this, now…
Cheers Ryan!
I would like an invite please!
Darn, I wanted to try it too.
I want to try it .can you send me an invitation
err…Too late…..I want to have a invite too….
i’m sorry but what am i missing here
? TVU and Sopcast works perfectly alright…This swedish guy takes others ideas/already “invented” do some changes and sell them for way to much money… 
Great. Let’s invite all of us.
Thanks for posting. This looks interesting.
I remember hearing about The Venice Project, now Joost. Long before I tested TVU Player or heard of Sopcast just now. Besides, TVU is great for live shows, but you can’t see already aired. It’s only working on constant streaming, Joost on the other hand has a catalog that will keep increasing.
I think I’m too late… I wanted to try the Mac version so bad !!
Oups forgot to leave my email
Invitations were sent out to the first five people!
Thank you very much!!!
Is it certain that it needs invitations?
Can someone check [joost.com] ?
Invite me pllleeeaaaasssseeee!
Invite me toooooooooooo please
Sorry.. we only had 5 invites and all invites are gone.
Hopefully we get some more invites soon to send out to everyone!
Hello, can i have an invitacion?? thanks
jcorreas at gmail dot com
there have been possible to see live games with different kind of p2p for a long time now…and of course i hope this joost will bring more into that category..
but my point is that these guys gets to much attention for something that is already out there…when i read the papers in sweden i get the impression that they are before everybody else..but that is not the case…what have they done ? besides
the “spyware machine”…CPU eating Skype !! and now this
..it’s like apple tv was something new…XBMC on XBOX have been out in the public for a couple of years doing everything better…
regards
I have been reading about Joost and am dying to try it out, if you have any invites left I would love to get one. Also, couldn’t agree with you more about Google 411 … I had been a big fan of Google Txt, and this is just another step above.