Joost Opens Beta to Public, Adds CBS Shows

Now anyone can download Joost's peer-to-peer online TV app, which has been busy upping its service with a slew of new shows—including a bunch from CBS.

Developed by the makers of Kazaa and Skype, Joost initially launched as a private beta back in January, with only a few precious invites available. In May, Joost opened the door a bit wider by allowing its beta testers to send out unlimited invites, and now the "velvet rope" has been dropped entirely. If you've been dying to check out the free, P2P video service (which uses the power of peer-to-peer networks to distribute the server load among all Joost users), head on over to the download page and get started.

Joost's channel lineup has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time I checked out the service. Back in May, Joost added programming from the likes of Warner Music, MTV, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. But the service has scored a major coup since then: CBS (whose parent, Viacom, has invested substantially in Joost) has come on board in a big way, with shows such as "Kid Nation," "How I Met Your Mother," "The Unit," "Late Show with David Letterman," and "Cane," and there's even a separate channel devoted to all the "CSI" shows. Also new: the WBTV "Sci-Fi Fix," including "V," "Invasion," "Aquaman," "Babylon 5," and "Max Headroom." And coming soon (according to USA Today): full-length movies (whether they'll be big-name movies of Z-grade zombie flicks remains to be seen).

Pretty cool, but Joost is still saddled with many of the same limitations that plague other online video efforts, including commercials that you can't skip (at least there's only a minute of so of ads per hour), and no way to stream shows to your TV (besides attached your PC's VGA cable to your set) or transfer them to a portable player.

Related:
Joost finally sheds invite-only status, opens up to the public [Ars Technica]