Peer-to-peer technology pioneers Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis have renamed their new online TV service under development and plan to open the gates to let more people test the software.The video stream service, code-named The Venice Project, is now officially called Joost, company Chief Executive Officer Fredrik de Wahl said Tuesday in an e-mail.The service, which is being tested by a select group of users, will allow users to watch TV on their computers, in addition to offering Web functions such as chatting and the ability to search and pull up programs on demand.Joost also plans to give more people an opportunity to test its software when the company launches the 0.8 version shortly, de Wahl said. A broad public release is planned for the first half of this year.The Joost application, however, is a bandwidth blockbuster, which could pose a problem for Internet users with a strict monthly limit on broadband usage. The service consumes an average 320MB of downloaded and 105MB of uploaded traffic for an hour’s worth of TV viewing. The 105MB per hour upload rate is almost equivalent to 256Kbps, double the upload speed currently offered by many DSL services in Europe.In documentation provided to beta testers, Joost warns that the service “will exhaust a 1GB cap in 10 hours” and explains how they can exit the application to ensure it doesn’t continue running once they’ve stopped watching.In addition to its new Joost online video service, Zennstrom and Friis founded the Kazaa peer-to-peer music exchange and the Skype voice-over-IP service.-John Blau, IDG News Service (Dusseldorf Bureau)Related Link: Skype Founders to Launch ‘Venice Project’ Web TV ServiceCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content News Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS The latest round of Amazon layoffs will impact AWS, Twitch, advertising and PXT, CEO Andy Jassy said. By Jon Gold Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost What’s next for network operations Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Serge Lucio, Vice President and General Manager, Agile Operations Division Mar 20, 2023 8 mins IT Leadership Networking BrandPost Digital transformation obstacles: Stubborn challenges, what to do about them Value Stream Management is an increasingly essential approach to strategic transformation initiatives. To help teams more fully capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Broadcom is holding its third annual VSM Summit. By Marla Schimke, Head of Product and Growth Marketing, Broadcom's Enterprise Software Division Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Devops Software Development Feature CEO directives: Top 5 initiatives for IT leaders As organizations change course with economic gyrations, collaboration between IT and business becomes priority No. 1 for CEOs. By Stacy Collett Mar 20, 2023 7 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe