BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Tech Observer >  

The New Easier Joost Is Up

Tech Observer

by Kevin Maney
Main
First Bytes: Electronic Arts Inc., Google/Yahoo, Mint, Frankfurt Book Fair   Report: Enterprise to Embrace Web 2.0 as Prices Drop

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Oct 14 2008 8:37am EDT

The New, Easier Joost Is Up

Kevin Maney writes: For a year now, Joost has been moving toward offering video in a browser, based on Flash, with now download software bits required. Although Joost was the first significant company to create broadcast-style video capabilities on the Web, it had quickly worked itself into a strategic hole. To watch Joost, you had to download a separate Joost player, which is more than a lot of people want to do. By early this year, rival Hulu had TV shows and movies in the browser, putting Joost into catch-up mode.


So the new Joost is finally up. And it's...OK. Hulu still looks cleaner and easier to navigate, with a bigger video window. Hulu immediately appeals to the mass market -- the first videos promoted this morning included Saturday Night Live clips, a full episode of Heroes, and episodes of The Office. On Joost, "Our Picks" included SlamBall's Rumble (whatever that is) and Japanese animated Bleach 1. "Most Popular" included The Legend of Bruce Lee and various Transformers episodes. So you can kind of tell what type of crowd is gathering over at Joost.

Hulu, backed by NBC and Fox, still has the momentum. We'll see if CBS-backed Joost can turn that around.

. □

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.


Connect With Portfolio.com
Like Portfolio on Facebook

Come on, like us—you know you want to.

Follow Portfolio on Twitter

Follow us and if you're an innovative entrepreneur, we'll return the favor.

The Mix

Today's top stories, conversation starters, and the back nine business bites.

spotlight on

Slideshows

500 Startups Hits New York

Dave McClure's brainchild makes its way to New York and introduces East Coast money folks to some intriguing new companies. View Slideshow