Net TV Testers Wanted

P2P Next is looking for thousands of volunteers to try out its video technology that streams TV across the Net. The downside? You need to live in Europe.

The P2P Next Project is investigating what might prove to be the future of television. It’s testing software, the SwarmPlayer, that can stream programs across the Net by using BitTorrent technology, and the EU is putting millions of dollars into this to create what will be a Europe-wide standard for broadcasters, according to the BBC.

Now they’re looking for thousands of volunteers across Europe to try out the technology and see how well it works with a large number of users. It’s currently available to Windows and Linux users, with a Mac version just around the corner.

SwarmPlayer can handle live broadcasts, or people can watch as they download, or simply download and watch later. It’s likely to be the first of several prototypes.

Oh, and if you live in Europe and you’re interested in joining, the project runs for four years, and you’ll need a broadband connection of 600 kbps per second or higher.