Babelgum is another contender in the battle to deliver full-screen, streaming video over the Internet. I’ve written previously about Joost, which offers a similar service. Babelgum, which is now in open beta, uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver vi…

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.

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.

Babelgum vs. Joost

babelgum ist ebenso schick vielleicht ein bischen weniger bunt im “comicstyle” aufegbaut wie joost. die programmauswahl umfasst ähnlich wie bei joost channels in denen entsprechende sendungen zum abruf bereitliegen….

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?

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.

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?

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.