Miro looking good

Miro, an open-source internet TV app, announced its first public release Tuesday.

In beta, Miro enjoyed some 200,000 downloads per month.

Like Mozilla's Firefox web browser, Miro is run by a nonprofit organization, the Participatory Culture Foundation– of which Mozilla COO John Lilly is a boardmember.

Half desktop application and half web application, Miro has a built-in guide listing more than 2,700 free channels of online video. It also boasts more HD content than any other online video tool.

The app doesn't dance around the subject of competing with Joost. A press release asserts it will have more users than the TV app by January. Further, the Miro website compares the two, explaining to users that Miro is open "like the internet," while Joost operates "like a cable company with DRM."

To its credit, Joost announced it would avail its back-end to developers as well last month.

Last month another Joost competitor, Hulu, launched in beta. The online TV service is fully hosted online, so users do not have to download software as is necessary with Miro and Joost.

Hulu is a joint effort by NBCU and News Corp. Recently, NBC.com began permitting downloads of television episodes from its website.