Joost TV Open for Business

Joost, described as the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service, has commercially launched Tuesday.

Joost, the brainchild of Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, has been available to beta testers since earlier this year, but now anyone can use the Internet television service.

Beta testers can invite friends and colleagues using the 'Invite Friends' tools in their "My Joost" zone. Both new and existing users can download a new version of Joost on Tuesday.

Over 150 channels are available, while more than 30 global advertisers -- including The Coca-Cola Company, HP, Intel and Nike -- have signed up to help fund the project. Adverts are due to appear on Joost broadcasts later this month.

"Today marks the beginning of an exciting phase for Joost -- we are officially open for business," said David Clark, executive vice president of global advertising for Joost. "We're enabling our viewers to share Joost with their friends and family, and we're working collaboratively with the world's leading advertisers and agencies to design a new ad model for the next generation of television."