In the U.S., Livestation also began offering Al Jazeera English Live (iTunes link) last month, a live TV application built using the same technology. As with BBC News, the live TV channel is available over both Wi-Fi and 3G. Around the corner, NASA may also be launching a live TV streaming application using Livestation's technology. Already a content partner, NASA's iPhone app has a description that reads: "Update Coming that adds Live NASA Public TV streaming to your device."

While both of these news applications offer TV streams from stations that Livestation is already partners with by way of their live TV desktop application, the company's iPhone streaming solution represents "just the tip of the iceberg," claims Livestation CEO Matteo Berlucchi. "Once other broadcasters see the immediate business benefits of the revenue model we are offering... we expect usage to increase."

The revenue model he is referring to is the one where iPhone and iPod Touch users purchase the mobile applications built using the Livestation iPhone technology platform in the iTunes App Store. They can then also serve ads within the app itself, if the broadcaster so chooses. Those ads don't have to be simple text or image links, either - they can be video ads, too, much like what you would see on TV. In addition, Berlucchi says that paid-for content that goes beyond that of the app's initial purchase price is also a possibility in the future.

According to Livestation's website, the iPhone solution uses the company's own streaming protocol to deliver the TV streams. However, they note that they plan to support the native Apple Streaming protocol as soon as it becomes available. That seems to confirm our suspicions from earlier this year about live streaming on the iPhone, which came about when we uncovered Apple's IETF submission for a live streaming protocol.

Livestation is not the only company to provide a means of watching TV on your iPhone, but the current crop of iPhone applications like SlingPlayer, Live TV, and Orb require a set-top box, a TV tuner, and/or software installed on your computer. Livestation's apps, on the other hand, simply require an iPhone.

To see the technology in action, you can watch this video on Vimeo, where the BBC News application is demonstrated.

Today, Joost announced that it is mostly abandoning its original strategy and that the company will focus on offering white label video solutions for media companies and distributors instead.

As Mike Volpi points out on the Joost blog, the company will also downsize its staff in New York and London, and shut down its development center in the Netherlands. Joost will continue to host content on Joost.com, however, and keep the portal running for the time being. The focus of Joost, however, will be on the white label platform, which the company describes as a "cost-effective, end-to-end solution for media companies to publish video under their own brands."

Volpi also announced that he is stepping down as Joost's CEO. Matt Zelesko, Joost's current SVP of engineering, will replace Volpi as CEO.

Lots of Competition

Joost is entering a pretty crowded market, with Brightcove, Viddler, EdgeCast and many others vying for customers. There can be no doubt that Joost will be able to deliver the technology, but we will have to wait and see if Joost can make this transition and attract enough customers for its white label solution.