Latest Joost Update

Joost^TM newest version making great -??greater!

I originally posted a review of my Beta testing of Joost^TM??back in January. Back then I had a few problems that appeared to be connected with my older and NOT wiser PC. I downloaded a newer version of the program V-0.7.4.1 which contained even more user friendly UI aspects, and I suspect, something that makes worn out computers run the video better.

Some new features of the latest version are: displayed channel numbers that can be selected from your keyboard, UI on small screen simplified (I like this a lot), tooltip dynamic messaging and dual monitor support with drag-and-drop capabilities. The organization of the UI helped me the most, as I had some difficulty navigating on my original testing of Joost^TM. I originally thought the UI was slick, but it is approaching flawless now.

The windowed mode makes the Joost^TM experience much more flexible. The controls are simplified in this mode, which helps with multitasking while watching TV. The UI is much more exacting to commands than the initial version and screens can be closed by clicking a single icon within the viewing area. It is really obvious that the developers are being responsive to feedback issues, and the forum has been very active with the give and take of issues.

As for the programming, I read a post by some other blogger that said the programming was limited. I am not sure exactly what he was looking for, but I found about 4 times as much unique programming at Joost as was there in January. One of my favorites “5^th Gear” has a dozen or more automotive tests from some of the coolest (funniest) test drivers I ever saw. I actually think they listened to me and included National Geographic??as one of the content providers. Make a note Joost! If someone recommended this after my post, I should get 100 invitation tokens for our readers!

Sorry, I could not help myself, as my only slightly negative thought about this Beta is that I can’t share more of it with our readers. To be honest, I wonder if developers realize just how difficult it is to express video in words? In the case of Joost, it is like describing the parting of the Red Sea! Something along the lines of: “The bearded guy waved a big stick, and then said something to God, and all of a sudden the water parted!” The video version has somewhat more impact folks, so I will continue to lobby for access to this technological breakthrough for all of us.??We??have to be patient though, because it is??obvious that these guys are intent on bringing you the very best experience in online TV you can imagine. If they opened it up??before it is perfected that would not be very Web 2.0, would it?????

The short of it is, the longer they take, the more fun you will have with this service. I was also excited to find that the ads are being kept in the same Web 2.0 format I described in my earlier review. They are paying attention people; we will keep you apprised of new developments.