Coming soon to your living room: Joost

I wrote here a while back about Joost; as a current beta-tester I can send invitations to anyone who'd like to try the service. If you've been curious to see what the noise is all about, just send me an email at mrtoast (AT) suddenlink (DOT) net, and I'll be glad to wrangle an invite your way.

Since my previous Joost post, the latest news is that the developers are trying to get their content into more than just your PC; they would love to have it embedded into your home TV, as Tech Digest reports in this article:

New CEO, Michelangelo Volpi, said, "Joost is a piece of software and it can reside on a variety of platforms. It could be on a television set-top box. Or potentially it could be embedded in a TV set with an Ethernet connection, or on a mobile phone, or in some alternative device that might come out in the future."

This word follows recent comments by David Clark, Joost’s Vice President of Global Advertising, who hinted that the company is talking to hardware manufacturers about embedding Joost software in various third-party devices. Details, including the names of other companies who might be involved, have not yet been revealed. But Joost's founders are clearly on a fast track to work the same sort of magic with the upstart video-on-demand service that they did with Kazaa and Skype. Covering all the media bases, the company is also looking at creative ways for sponsors to advertise their products more effectively as well.

The company's likely foray into big-screen TV is revealing. Following Microsoft's failure with Windows Media Center to generate much interest among users for watching TV on their computers (something that apparently only hard-core geeks get enthusiastic about), Joost realizes that its content will be much more popular on that most familiar of living room media players, the TV set. The company is also ramping up its programming by making new deals with CNN, Sony TV, the NHL, Sports Illustrated and Cartoon Network, along with other recent offerings from CBS and Warner Music.

I think this is going to be huge. Again, email me if you'd like an invite to get in on the ground floor and check it out yourself.