Joost Announces Flash Viewer, Adds Social Networking Features

by , 4:35 PM EDT, October 15th, 2008

On Wednesday, Joost announced a new Flash-based global Web video service for Windows, Linux and Mac that makes it easy to view Joost content within a Web browser. They've also revamped the search function and added features that will allow viewers to find and share videos with friends.

In addition, Joost has expanded its content to include over 46,000 professionally produced videos.

Joost claims to have the largest catalog of any on-demand video destination site and now includes shows such as Friends, Smallville, the OC, Veronica Mars, Laguna Beach, The Hills and Punk'd, from networks like the WB, CNN, CBS, VH1 and MTV. Also, Joost's music catalog now includes more than 18,000 music videos from major record labels, as well as a number of independent labels.

"People have always relied on their friends' recommendations to figure out which movies they want to watch, or talked about their favorite TV shows and moments with friends and colleagues -- and now Joost has combined those real-life experiences in one online destination," said Mike Volpi, CEO, Joost. "Our integrated social tools make it easier than ever for people to find the shows, film and music they want to watch, and to form communities around that content, which ultimately enriches their overall experience."

Joost told TMO that they've added JoostFeed, which aggregates all of the activities that are happening on Joost in order to help guide a person's Joost experience. The JoostFeed is viewable on Joost or can be exported to any online social tool or website.

Joost also is working with a number of third-party platforms, including Boxee, chumby, Delicious, Digg, FriendFeed, Lifestream, Meebo, Mister Wong, Netlog, Netvibes, reddit and VideoSurf, to make it easier for people to use and access Joost across the Web. In addition, Joost will implement Facebook Connect, which allows people to enjoy Joost within the context of their real identity and friendships on Facebook.

The Flash version of Joost uses the standard Flash plug-in available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. On the Mac, Joost with Flash is compatible with Firefox 3 and Safari 3. It is also compatible with IE7 and Firefox on XP and Vista.

Note: if you already have the latest version of Flash installed, you don't need to download from the link above.