17 January 2007
Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the pairing that brought the world Skype and Kazaa, have announced that the name of their forthcoming broadband TV service will be Joost.
Joost's chief executive Fredrik de Wahl said that the service will offer studios, cable stations and all other high-quality video distributors a fast, efficient and cheap delivery method. To do this, the company will rely on the peer-to-peer technology that helped Mr Friis and Mr Zennstrom build Skype and Kazaa.
Consumers are likely to favour the product over its rivals because Joost bills itself as the first free global TV distribution platform, uniting advertisers, content owners and viewers in a piracy-free interactive service.
Users will also have control of the content and access to any show offered regardless of time of day. They can also move forward or backward within a show, much like a Sky+ box.
"We are replicating the TV experience," said Mr de Wahl. "We are taking the best of the internet and the best of TV and putting them on one platform. We do that by combining the high entertainment value of TV with the power of the internet."
One thing that may put off prospective viewers is the fact that Joost has decided to include advertising in between its programmes, although Mr de Wahl gave his assurances that the adverts would be shorter and less frequent than they are on traditional TV channels.
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