No Download Required: Joost to Go Flash

As we previously reported, Internet TV startup Joost is ditching its downloadable desktop software. But now the company is taking things a step further, to give users the option to access the site without even downloading a P2P browser plug-in. All its content and new social features will be available in Flash, with higher definition, live, and some international programming only available with download of a “premium” (but still free) plug-in.

What’s more, the company says it expects the majority of its users will come to its content through the Flash player. The premium version of the site is open to the public today; the standard version will launch in mid-October.

Also — yay! — Joost is improving its terrible navigation system. The site will now organize shows, films, and music into hierarchical categories.

Joost is also adding new content throughout the course of the fall. Its library of 28,000 shows includes some that no other web video sites offer, for instance the largest collection of anime on the web, according to a spokesperson.

With general consumer knowledge and adoption of the availability of TV online just beginning, Joost may just have an outside chance at reclaiming the ground it lost with its (often faulty) desktop client.

Screenshots below, courtesy of Joost PR:

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