Joost beta 1.0 released! Now with new UI!
Guess what just quietly showed up! Yes, the shiny new Joost beta client 1.0 for Mac and Windows:
As you can see below the UI has been updated to a new dark gray transparent theme. This new UI was previously reported here as the “spoon” UI. I am pleased to see that it is now present throughout the most part of the client interface.
Joost now offer a completely re-designed Channel Guide called “Explore”.
By clicking on the categories listed on the left you will be presented a nicely animated list of channels corresponding to your selection. The interface is visually much better than the previous one… but I have yet to figure out how to do basic tasks I had no problem doing before.
For example, I can’t seem to be able to delete channels from “My Channels”… and I have not found how to add new channels to “My Channels” yet. It is almost as if the interface is 75% done and is lacking 25% of it’s functionality.
I also noticed some UI left overs from the previous release… like the “Coming Up” notice shown below. Compare the old black UI look alongside the new gray one:
Or the help screen shown when clicking the “?” in the bottom panel:
But I will take the new UI over the old one any day… even with the current issues.
Go download Joost Beta 1.0 here!
Nice work Joost!
P.S.: Get your beta invitation at: <no more needed> if you need one! Direct from Joost!
Update Oct 1 2007:
Took the invitation link down. Joost is now available to all and no longer requires invitation!
[...]JoostTeam.com just announced the release of Joost Beta 1.0. Joost is a new way to watch television through the net. It turns a PC into an instant on-demand TV without any need for additional set top box. If you haven’t already, now it’s the best time to take a look.[...]
wow, thanks for the heads up, I’ll write an article about this rite away…
Channels that you find via exploring or a search can be added to My Channels using the “+” button that appears when you hover the item in the grid interface. Also, playing a channel, using the play button or double clicking on a channel, adds the channel to My Channels.
To remove channels you can still acess the old UI using the channel list icon …..
Or using the “c” keyboard shortcut work as well.