I am writing this post and during this time the screen of Joost is showing me programs from Warner Bros. music channel. Joost is what had been called Venice project until today.

I’ve downloaded the beta version of what should be the most promising Internet project of this year only an hour ago. I’ve just finished the installation and felt I need to share the feeling. In one word: Amazing, in two: Amazing & problematic.

First, the good part: the video quality is the best I’ve ever seen in streaming. The idea of channels on a client installed on a PC is great. When I’ve first opened it - I felt like the first time I saw Google. Something that would change the world. No more browsing, looking for good stuff. Just zapping, like we used to do on TV.

Now for the bad parts:

-Joost slows down the computer dramatically.

-The zapping between the channels is hard to understand – meaning the interface is not good enough.

-The zapping between programs is slow. Not a real TV feeling.

-The amount of content is disappointing – assuming this problem will be solved before launch
.

To summarize – It is really the most promising project of this year and I’m sure that although the interface is not yet there, Joost will change the way we consume video on the net.

k.

This week, Kenneth Hein, predicted that 2007 will be the year of mobile advertising.

During 2006, Sprint already allowed putting banners in there WAP walled garden portal, and in the last weeks Verizon joint them.

79% of the customers, as the results of the last survey published this week shows, don’t want to see it on there small screen and find it annoying. how suprising.

What need to happen in order for mobile advertising to take off:

1.      Real mobile internet broadband –today only 150M subscribers world wide have 3G out of more than 2B mobile customers
 
2.       Real Mobile internet browsing– today only 20% of customers in western europe are using WAP portal, mostly for content download. in the US the numbers are even lower

3.       Real benefit to the client – customers won’t be willing to get branding in there personal phone, only commercial offers with value for the customer. The advertisers are not yet there

4.   Real personalized offer - without real personalization, the customers will find it annoying

5.   Real Pay-Per-Lead service - advertisers won’t pay for media that is not results related

 As I see it, we are still in the early stages of mobile internet and it will take more time for mobile advertising to take off.

k.

Yes. They did it again. after months of rumors, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, presented today the iPhone - The new mobile phone that had been developed by Apple. Apple knows how to do things by the book. Amazing interface. The best I have ever seen in mobile phones. When you are looking on it (www.apple.com) the first blink is – how simple and right it is. Like the company’s promise: “Apple reinvent the phone”. All the icons amazingly designed. There is a button directly turning the phone into an ipod. It is really an ipod with mobile internet connection.

With 3G starting to take off in 2007 (my estimation - becoming mass technology in 2008) and Wi-Max first implementations, we are getting close to the point of real broadband in mobile phones. It would take 2 – 3 years from now, but we will be able to reach the internet anywhere, any time. In the mobile broadband area, we will see more and more consumer electronics products with mobile internet connection. iPhone is only the beginning. Car TV with internet connection is next to come. Nintendo with connection offering the ability for on-line mobile gaming next. And there will be more and more consumer electronics appliances in the market.

K.