Almost a year ago, Flash developer Paul Yanez put together a web-based application that looks and feels like Joost, but displays online video from other sites like YouTube, Veo, and MySpace. But if you want to actually watch Joost content, you still need to download and install a standalone application to access Joost's peer to peer network. There's no web player... yet. But Joost CEO Mike Volpi tells Portfolio Magazine that a web based player is in the works.

It's not entirely clear at the moment how the player will work, or how Joost hopes to set itself apart from other services like YouTube or Hulu. The former has the lion's share of the online video market, while the latter has a much wider selection of popular full length TV episodes and movies than Joost. But considering the fact that only 6 million people have downloaded and installed the Joost client, while more than 10 million people watch YouTube videos every single day, it's clear that Joost had to do something.

What do you think, is Joost grasping at straws here? Or does the company's recent test of live streaming video and its plan to launch a browser-based player make sense as a competitive business strategy?

[via Silicon Alley Insider]