Babelgum has pushed itself public yesterday. On the surface it looks very similar to its more famous competitor, Joost. Both are P2P IPTV applications that let you flip through channels and shows streamed to your computer. Both are backed by deep pockets and big names. In Joost’s corner, Skype and Kazaa veterans Niklas Zenstrom and Janus Friis with $45 million in financing. Babelgum was started by FASTWEB founder Silvio Scaglia with $13.2 million invested.
Yet while the market and pedigree may be similar, the execution in each case differs.
Content
The most noticeable difference between the two has been between the content each is streaming. Joost had the fortune of early hype and pulling together some big content deals from Viacom, CNN, Sony, and the NHL. They also have the benefit of some large media companies, CBS and Viacom, as investors. Similar to when Joost first launched, Babelgum currently streams more generic content from providers like the AP and National Geographic. The latest content deal of note has been Spike Lee screening some of his movie footage on the network.
Interface
Both applications have the same core functionality, allowing you to create your own personalized channel guide. Although, while both applications stream to your desktop, Joost allows you to skip forward and back, while Babelgum plays serially. The larger differences come in the social aspects of the program, of which Babelgum has none as of yet. Joost, however, uses a toolbox of widgets for things like chat rooms and bulletin boards.
The Babelgum interface is similar to Joost, but more complicated. Little things like not being able to double click on a clip to play it are annoying. Play back quality is reasonable; I experienced no buffering or choppiness in playback. Like Joost, playing a clip at full screen on a 22″ monitor doesn’t deliver good picture quality. If content is the driver in TVIP platform adoption, Babelgum won’t be going far. The content selection is nearly as poor as the navigation options; why have tags for videos if you can’t click on them?
Overall
Overall Babelgum feels like a poor man’s Joost. Competition in any field drives innovation and is good for the consumer, yet for Babelgum 2006 is calling and it wants its innovations back; writing on your front page that “Babelgum is a new way of conceiving television” when it is at best following Joost
See our Joost and Babelgum company profiles.
Babelgum:
Joost:
I don’t watch Fox because it’s Fox or because it was founded by a hot shot.
I watch it because they play 24.
If content is different in Joost and Babelgum, I don’t care who launched first, I’d go to whomever offers the stuff I’d like to watch.
joost what a strange thing it is.but a usefull one like babelgum.
I tried out Babelgum myself this evening and couldn’t agree more. I thought the content selection on Joost was pretty poor but Babelgum’s is just laughable. You’d think the existence proof of YouTube would be enough to make them realise the content triumphs over quality and interface, but apparently not.
Why the sudden change in post? The first was pretty critical (pretty harsh in my opinion), and this one is now much more balanced.
Just interested…
Babelgum at least works for me, Joost doesn’t play any clip/movie.
I’m trying to download Babelgum beta, but judging by the comments above, I am in no doubt that I’m going to be disappointed. What I don’t appreciate about all the hype behind Joost is how little quality content is available to those outside N. America and Europe. I live in Asia and I get rubbish programmes. That’s what I think anyway.
I wasn’t impressed with the content of Joost at all in the first place. And I agree that Babelgum’s is even poorer. But at least it plays smoothly and I can find my way in it. Joost has too many hiccups, more hiccups than play time, so much that made me wonder there’s something wrong with my computer and had to abandon — until I tried Babelgum last night, and everything was fine.
I think these guys deserve a bit of a break; they are doing something pretty new (yes they are doing similar things to joost but it’s not like they can just talk to the joost guys then go home and copy everything.)
There is something to be said for getting something out the door and slowly building it up. Pretty much every single product Google releases is the same way – 3/4ths baked, then they steadily improve on it. Hopefully babelgum has the resources to operate in that “agile” way and the service will steadily improve, they will get more interesting content, etc. if they don’t they’ll die off, but i think we should hold off criticism at least for another 6 months until they have an opportunity to iterate a few times…
The warner SCI-FI launched only in teh US for Joost
I’m So sad and at the same time very pleased about it 
Now I can do something better with my time! 
I think you are totaly wrong about the Bablegum Electronic Program Gudie and even someone I know at Joost that I convese with agreed with me and said Bablegum had a simple EPG with a Icon theme that he likes ,he also told me that improving the Joost UI was a High priorty at the moment .
I think Babelgum *might* be going after a slightly different market and embracing more of a niche content strategy.
PS: In fact, apart from the hype, I don’t see what’s so good about Joost, not to mention that it is ‘better’ (???) than Babelgum in any sense. I totally cannot agree that Joost is user-friendly — its user interface is complicated, confusing and often get out of control (more often than not), the picture resolution is no good (can’t imagine how anyone can play it on a 22′ mon). In these aspects, Babelgum is much better — there, I know exactly what to do within a few seconds.
Yes, the content is not impressive, but so is that of Joost. And come on, it’s a beta, is it not?
I have Joost, but never watch it. All I care about is content, and it just isn’t there.
I don’t know. Probably you guys have some interest in joost, you also have a page there: http://joost.co...nts/techcrunch/
I find your analysis really aggressive, superficial and partisan.
First of all developing a project like this take 1/2 years. So, if babelgum comes out a couple of months later, saying it copied or clones it’s ridicolous. Do you really think these guys woke up one morning after having seen joost and said: ohhh, let’s do it? C’moon.
Second. At the moment it launched the beta joost was very poor in content too. In the following months it announced deals.
Third. Babelgum has a very different approach in content, in june they are supposed to introduce an upload platform giving “indies” the opportunity to distribute content. I find this very interesting, very different from “mainstream-leftover-republishing” joost editorial line.
So, if your review has title now to define it a poor man version because it’s poorer in content, it also certainly lacks totally in perspective, and that’s quite surprising from you guys who are always accurate and impartial.
Whichever one gets content from Discovery Communications is the one I stick with. I’ve watched a bit of Joost, but I’m a giant documentary nerd, and Joost is doing me no favors on that front.
I use BT vision in the UK , which is BT’s attempt at IPTV, and it is extremely easy to use, and it works! It has an easy user interface , nothing too funky. It has all the documentary you want.. However it does not have enough movies on it, and also it is a rip off when it comes to movies $5 a movie and you can keep it for 24hours, and you cannot record it. After using it for 3 months , the biggest issue i see is content not enough of it.
Being the “poor man’s Joost” could be a positive and give them a lead with some users. Look at myspace….I feel its inferior to Facebook.
Though the crowd seems to love it!
Oh all kinds of sites like this will crop up, not necessarily because of Joost. It’s just the natural course of how things will develop/go.
Thanks for the analysis. Very interesting.
You are a paid fucker just like those from payperpost.com
Whatever you do with your startup. Don’t show off too much. Company will copy it and make better UI. If you run startup in your own. Beware, the corporate tigers. They have claws and sharp teeth. They will do anything to copy off you ideas and increase ratings.
Joost still doesn’t work for many people. I have tried 3 different versions and all drive my processor to 100% which causes the UI to not work at all. Why should this be? There are many P2P programs out there that work just fine (PPLive TVAnts, probably Babelgum though I haven’t tried it yet). Joost needs to get some new programmers or try a little reverse engineering.
here’s why? Viacom attacks Google and Youtube. Joost attacks Youtube. Babelgum attacks Joost.
You see that infection. Once you created you might end up get that job. you can’t switch jobs. Companies will do anything to kill your high powered talents.
I don’t have Cable TV service. I stayed up until way too late last night watching Punk’d and Comedy Central on Joost. It crashed a few times, and a few programs didn’t come up at first, but overall it is rather cool and the UI is elegantly usable – just wish you could bookmark multiple shows and come back to them. Seems to only remember the last one you were watching before you put it on standby. Can’t wait to see more programming come to these outlets – it’s so intriguingly disruptive to the paid TV industry.
No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
The Joost UI looks very nice, but it’s not that easy to use. Too many clicks are needed to find what you want. It’s still a TV interface, which is clunky. Also, I wonder if getting the big media companies involved so early might not be a curse in disguise. TV over the net is disruptive to traditional media companies, and their instinct is going to be to protect their major revenue streams. Joost may end up being too hamstrung by the wishes of their backers. I mean, at this point, given who their investors are, can they really implement something that their users would love but that Viacom doesn’t like? If they can’t, then they’re in very deep trouble.
With so many varied opinions about content and performance quality for both Joost and Babelgum, I would like to hear thoughts on another competitor in this space; Vuse.
I think this review of Babelgum smacks a bit harsh to say the least. There’s no denying the similarities to Joost but I wouldn’t call Babelgum a clone. Joost was first to open but the two started development around the same time.
The content on Babelgum is different by design. Joost is essentially replicating mainstream tv while Babelgum has content one wouldn’t necessarily find elsewhere. Its more of a supplement to tv watching rather than a replacement.
I think both services are groundbreaking and should be enjoyed in tandem not exclusively.
I had the fortune to check both early on (thanks orly), and i can say that both suffer from the same illness and that was they they were both developed in a way that they will not be able to be as useful, cool or stable as they grow. they are the kind of model and service that would have benefited in enormous way if they were developed in any of the next gen platforms be it silverlight, be it Apollo or Javafx.. instead we got babelgum developed in a very traditional way, and joost using mozilla code that even if the base code is flawless is now know as hard to maintain stable as things are added into it unless is done directly by the guys at mozilla. i think they both are gonna sufer from it, and that version of both services are not gonnalive up to the hype, even then of course joost is way better rounded in user aspect from content, to design and of course marketing, but i must say that it is not as stable as babelgum, and then you got babelgum, that seems to have a faster and more stable client, but suffers from a poor design,poor marketing and poor content..
now on the other hand, i look forward for when they get into developing version 2.0.. i am sure they would be better off trying any of the next gen platforms to build it. but don`t anyone worry for the services because it is hard for both product to die off. babelgum is backed by a very stubborn and rich man, and skype by two rich stubborn men that got venture capitalists and the media to their side… so i would not bet on anyone death before a year in the market has passed.
So the question would be:
who is going to launch the third option once both final version have been launched?
A few things to keep in mind:
1) Any product that is using licensed content will not be getting content that is top-tier. Big media like Viacom or Time Warner are not willing to trust any third-party well enough to distribute their premium shows/movies onto. At least not until the audience is large enough and the security is strong enough to prevent piracy.
2) Neither of these products are going to pick up enough steam unless their offer original content IMO.
3) The quality is not there yet to where you would want to watch this on your television. I think most people would prefer to watch MTV on their 32″+ television over their monitor any day.
4) If Joost or Babelgum do wind up gathering a large audience and hoping to put this content into your living room via IPTV, you can bet that companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon start offering more VOD content for their customers. If this happens, Joost or Babelgum could become obsolete.
In regards to Babelgum vs. Joost. Joost, may have the better content for now, but with Silvio Scaglia’s ties to the telecom industry in Europe, I would not be surprised to see Babelgum gather IPTV adoption quicker outside of the U.S.
I personally do like the Joost interface a lot better as well. I am just not finding enough content to keep me going back. I want something original with some length, not some short 5 minute clips.
joost,babelgum meant for living room.Not for those who consume 5-6 min clips(most of us fall into this category).I guess it takes 2-3 yrs before pople latch on to joosts seriously.
For my part I have tried both apps; I have noted a difference not covered by this article. Joost takes much more resources than Babelgum when it is displayed in fullscreen. That’s why I’ll vote for Babelgum (things can change!..).
Have you noticed that neither Joost (as in Yost) or Babelgum (don’t know the correct Italian pronunciation) actually use P2P? And if they travel out the long tail they never will. Without P2P these apps don’t scale.
The user experience is the key issue, in this case, content and speed-of-access/QoS.
Perhaps because I’m in China and usually going through a VPN in the States, Joost is just too slow, too choppy, almost always crashes. So the QoS is awful.
I’m also not that thrilled by the content on Joost. And if Bubblegum (I mean “Babelgum”) has LESS content than Joost, isn’t it really a joke, at least at this point?
I haven’t uninstalled Joost; matter of fact, it’s the second item on my Start menu after the SpaceTime Beta. But I hope they address QoS and content issues. An advantage for Joost: I believe that they already know that QoS and content are the key drivers.
Last comment: First Skype, then Joost. How about picking a company name that most people will pronounce correctly?
Looked at joost / babelgum sometime ago, and Joosti heavy, like all other readers, content is king, youtube proves that, and getting content from people like viacom will not really help, the Internet is all about allowing the market create its own content, I agree youtube only has 5 minutes clips, but just think all those movie makers with little budget which could throw out some great 90minutes movies, or 30 minute serials, which would just get you hooked. Normal TV is boring, except discovery and nat geo, and even that is repeated, the one guy who opens up to the rest of the world to publish, will do well, the UI will fix itself, if they have enough brains and money to do this, the UI will come, Skype, Kazaa both open, why make Joost closed from a content point of view.
i downloaded the beta for babelgum yesterday. i even watched a show about battleships. It was really sad for a saturday night.
I have tried joost too, I prefer joost for one reason, the re-sizing.
The content is very weak on both services, however i think joost has a little more pull. i’ll give it time, its not bad, but babelgum’s sake, make windows more versitile so i can multitask.
-Americo de Thunk Different.
BTW I noticed that when you think you are closing Joost, it still runs in your taskbar. Does this mean the program is running in the background and perhaps “sharing” your files, stream bits with others in the Joost network? If so, that would definately be like other P2P networks.
You can bet this program will be strongly banned in the workplace. And if it slows down my network at home, I will not be letting it run in the background.