DailyTech - More Details on Skype Founders' Internet TV Venture

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Internet More Details on Skype Founders' Internet TV Venture
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - January 16, 2007 3:04 PM

2 comment(s) - last by jak3676.. on Jan 17 at 11:26 AM

The creators of Skype and Kazaa have released more details on their new service, plus given it a real name

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, best known as the creators of Skype and Kazaa, released the name of their new broadband television service, which is now in private testing with 6,000 users. Joost, formerly known as the Venice Project, "is a new way of watching TV on the Internet." Joost software will search the Internet for channels and video clips that interests users. The company believes it has combined "the best of TV and the best of the Internet" by creating a "piracy-proof" online platform that will hopefully please users and limit the worries of copyright owners.

"People are looking for increased choice and flexibility in their TV experience, while the entertainment industry needs to retain control over their content," said Fredrik de Wahl, Joost chief executive.

The move has caused quite a splash among people who have remotely been paying attention to the growing Internet television market. In fact, some people have gone as far as to Joost "the new YouTube."

Joost will be a free service supported by advertising.

With several other services on the Internet television horizon, Joost certainly has a lot of work to do. For example, BT Vision, a service launched in December, already offers video-on-demand for broadband users. Babelgum, another company with a service much like Joost ready for launch in March, contacted BBC noting that it is using peer-to-peer technology while streaming video that it claims is something close to TV resolution.

You can sign up to be a Joost beta tester by clicking here.