Breaking: Joost Turns to the Web for Help

GigaOm is reporting that Joost will discontinue its desktop P2P client and replace it with a small plugin that would embed itself in the browser. That plugin will reportedly provide files with the help of the company’s P2P technologies that are already in place.

Joost, which launched to considerable fanfare, has fallen off the radar as of late as the company has been plagued by a shortage of content and, well, users. And as the inertia of the online video business moves away from desktop clients and to the Web, it seems Joost has finally seen the writing on the wall and will launch an online video service of its own.

Although Joost has not confirmed the report, it is expected to make an announcement shortly. It’ll be interesting to see how it fares in an already crowded lineup of offerings headlined by Hulu, Amazon, and Fancast.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.