This week there’s been a fair bit of action in the Internet TV sector, with announcements from Hulu, Joost and TiVo. Our network blog last100 has been covering the action.
This week Hulu – the online video project from Newscorp and NBC/Universal, with participation by Sony, MGM and others (our previous coverage) – launched to the general public in the United States. It’s been in private beta nearly five months, wrote Dan Langendorf at last100.
The good news is that Hulu is free and offers legal content to viewers, albeit ad-supported. But it has its bad points, for example Hulus network lineup is missing a few big players – CBS and Walt Disneys ABC, although both are rumored to be in negotiations with Hulu. Check out Dan’s review for the full skinny.
Joost makes live-streaming video available, starting with March Madness
Joost, the Internet TV service, is making live-streaming video available through an update to its desktop client. Joost has landed a deal with one of its investors, CBS, to stream live and relatively ad-free NCAA Mens Basketball Championship games. The new Joost client for the PC and Intel Macs only was made available for download this week and is needed to access live streaming. Joost began looking into adding live television back in October.
TiVo continues expansion, adds YouTube to television services lineup
It seems a bit late, but the important thing is that TiVo keeps improving its television services offering. This time, TiVo is adding YouTube to its ever-expanding lineup.
TiVos partnership with YouTube will deliver Web video directly to users televisions. The catch is to get YouTube content you must own the latest TiVo HD and TiVo Series3 models.
Check out more Internet TV news from last100, our digital lifestyle blog covering Internet TV, digital music, Mobile Web and more. You can subscribe to last100 here.
