TV: Joost and IceTV and Anytime and Reeltime

While watching Joost TV shows, you can gaily throw around Emoticons on the show chat channels.
Getting a little crowded out there, lots of new TV stuff happening in Australia and beyond.

Some time ago, I asked (well, whinged and whined and begged) for a token to join Joost.tv beta. And a few weeks ago, Ugo Cei from Italy sent me the invite. Now, I’ve never met Ugo or even heard of him before, but after googling, I found his blog. So here’s a return link and a thankyou to Ugo – grazie mille, caro. Don’t you just love the way you can connect with people on the ‘net? BTW Ugo has a wine and food blog (in Italian) at di Vino & Cibo.

So Joost – I love it. I’m surprised, I’m not a TV person. But watching TV on my flat screen monitor, in full screen, and sliding across to the chat channels (yes you can chat with others watching the same trashy shows) is cool. As well as the chat channels (join the ones for each show or create your own), there are RSS News Feeds, a Notepad with notes from Joost, Instant messaging and others stuff. All transparent blocks so you can keep watching the show while chatting, IM’ing etc.

CBS Has Its Eye On Joost

I’m extremely pleased to tell you that America’s most watched network will be available on the Joost platform when we launch this spring.

CBS has signed a deal with Joost to make top current and classic programming available for free, to our viewers. That means that you will soon have on-demand access to programs like CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CBS Evening News, CBS Sportsline, Survivor and much more.

from the Joost blog.

Here in Australia, Fairfax and IceTV have joined up. Deal with AnyTime Singapore and the Reeltime TV response here by Asher Moses on Sydney Morning Herald.

An explosion of action is looming in the movie downloads market , as media companies clamour to get a foothold in an industry that some say will eventually bring about the demise of the local video rental store.

Today, Fairfax Media, publisher of smh.com.au and theage.com.au, quietly took the wraps off its new online movie store, while electronic program guide provider IceTV said it was planning a similar offering to be launched by June.

Fairfax and IceTV join existing video-on-demand providers BigPond Movies and the embattled Reeltime.

Back to Joost – it’s really fast and no lag (it’s peer-to-peer or bittorrent enabled) and the ad at 15 mins, 30 and then 45 is fine. (just one ad at a time, and a funny series from T-Mobile). Actually I rewound the dvd(or whatever you do with non-tapes) to watch the AD once because I missed it. The one with the guy streaking a sporting event while telling his mates to turn on the TV. w00t!