Monday, April 23, 2007

Best IPTV Blogs, according to DailyIPTV

DailyIPTV just posted a list of the 10 best IPTV blogs. Well, my Just Joost Blog didn't make the list, but I still found the list interesting.

Here are their top 10 picks =


IPTV Watch
http://iptv-watch.co.uk – This site, covering both U.S. and international topics, provides a balance of both light and heavy subjects. Recent examples include the entertainment industry’s concerns over piracy, and reality TV making its way to IPTV.

NewTeeVee
http://newteevee.com – This blog is sister to the tech blog GigaOM and offers quality commentary on the online TV and IPTV industries. Recent topics include five technologies changing video and how to create your own TV channel.

FierceIPTV
http://www.fierceiptv.com – This highly popular blog and news site is one of the best known in the industry for its high quality coverage. Recent topics include commentary from Comcast’s CEO about dealing with IPTV competition, and the possible expansion of Apple TV.

Informitv
http://informitv.com/news – This blog, based in Europe, covers both U.S. and international topics. Recent entries include CBS’ creation of its Interactive Audience Network, which will distribute content online through partners such as AOL, Joost, and Brightcove, and Google Video coming to Europe’s Sky online and terrestrial TV network.

3Screens.net
http://www.3screens.net – If it’s AT&T’s U-Verse you’re interested in, this is the blog for you. Alan Weinkrantz blogs his first-person experiences trialing U-Verse in San Antonio, but also covers a wide variety of other online TV and IPTV topics. Recent examples include ten Joost channels worth watching and where to learn more about fiber to the home. For more targeted results click on the topic tags on the left.

Broadband TV News
http://www.broadbandtvnews.com – This blog provides excellent coverage of the international IPTV scene. Recent topics include the setup of a test center in France to simulate and troubleshoot potential real-world IPTV rollouts, and a BBC trial to explore how content could be delivered to hybrid platforms that combine both broadcast and Internet connectivity.

TMCnet
http://blog.tmcnet.com/iptv – This site offers in-depth commentary on the IPTV industry. Recent topics include what’s wrong with the TV viewing experience today and how to create a friendly user interface for high quality IPTV viewing.

IPTV Evangelist
http://www.iptvevangelist.com – In addition to providing quality industry commentary, this site includes interviews with many of today’s top new media and IPTV pioneers such as Revision3 CEO Jay Adelson and Todd Boes, vice president of product management at Maven Networks. Other topics such as the expansion of Akimbo’s VOD service are covered.

IPTV News
http://eyeptv.blogspot.com – This site links to both U.S. and international stories around the web and offers the ability to comment on stories. Recent examples include a new Amino HD PVR-capable IPTV platform and how IPTV providers can target ads to viewers based on their behavior.

The Register
http://search.theregister.co.uk – This U.K. publication’s “no nonsense” IPTV coverage is hard-hitting and sometimes asks the tough questions. Recent examples include “Why the world has lost interest in IPTV services” and the potential wave of Apple TV imitators.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Joost was to blame, not Comcast


A bunch of Comcast users were complaining about video problems on the Joost beta over the weekend. The story was a big digger on Digg.com. Some Digg readers suggested that Comcast may have been interfering with the Joost Beta (Comcast may consider Joost a competitive threat).

However, Joost has investigated the problem and taken full blame. The problem stemmed from bugs on the Joost side.

"Comcast is not blocking access to Joost in any way, and our customers should have no problem accessing the beta application on its site," said Jennifer Khoury earlier in the week. She is a Comcast spokeswoman - and she was right.

HealthiNation will be a featured content partner on Joost


Yet another partnerhsip announcement from the guys at Joost. HealthiNation will be a featured content partner on Joost.

The two companies said the digital health networks advertisers will be offered a range of interactive features such as overlays, integrated video-placement opportunities and other engagement-oriented features.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The Joost Buildup


So Joost seems to be doing a pretty good job of building anticipation for the public launch.

The announced beta version 0.9 this week. They're signing content deals and pushing press releases. They're catering to bloggers with badges and tokens and invites.

Joost.com already has 67,976 backlinks, according to iwebtool. That's a lot more backlinks than I have for my blog!

The three big questions that remain are:
1. How and when will they open the doors to the public?
2. Can they gather enough content before then to make sure that most people's first experience is a good one
3. How can they set the hook, how will they get people to come back to Joost again and again?

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

BlogCritics is critical of Joost

A negative review of Joost today from Blogcritics. While I'm personally hoping for great things out of the Joost team, I have to agree with this criticism. Basically it boils down to this - content is king. Especially in video. Joost needs to very rapidly scale up the content available, or it simply will not win against YouTube and Google, not to mention Daily Motion and the others.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Joost 0.9 launches

Just got an email invitation to check out Joost version 0.9

"It's showtime! The latest version of Joost is now available for download
- and it's our biggest release yet."

Looks like Joost has added lots of video content and changed around some user interface stuff...

"We've also added a load of new content, so you now have many more channels from which to choose, including some of the biggest brands in entertainment."

The FAQ has new answers too...

"You'll notice one or two other changes too, including a new login procedure which will require a unique user name. As one of our early testers you have the opportunity to choose the name that you want - well ahead of the pack, so make sure you get a good one!

If you have any questions about how the registration process works, please check our FAQ at http://www.joost.com/support/faq/

As always, we hope that you enjoy the Joost viewing experience. We look forward to your feedback.

The Joost Team"