Orb Networks is now FREE! Stream your media anywhere...phones, laptops, pdas

[loup garou]

Check it out.
I signed up yesterday and got it working on my MCE2k5 box. It's amazingly cool to watch live TV streamed from home to my laptop at work, or at Starbucks. TV was jerky and buffered a lot, but I think it's because my host system is about half as powerful as their recommended system. Music and photos worked fine. So did scheduling shows. Anyone with a SmartPhone want to try? I think it would just be unbelievably cool to watch movies/TV on your phone without buying a huge memory card.

All in all, quite the bargain for a free service. They're saying they're going to add interstitial ads to make up money for dropping their fee-based system...we'll see how that works out.

UPDATE: Orb 2.0 is in Beta. You can download the installer when you login to my.orb.com (to use the web frontend afterwards, you'll go to mycast.orb.com, it took me a while to figure that out after installing!).

 

[Tsunami982]

i think im going to try this out when i get home. does anyone know how well the streaming video will work on regular old cable internet?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Tsunami982
i think im going to try this out when i get home. does anyone know how well the streaming video will work on regular old cable internet?

Their system determines what the network speed is between where you are accessing it and your host's upload and re-encodes the source accordingly.

I'm hosting mine off of RoadRunner cable 5Mb/384Kb and viewing it from my office T1. Recorded TV buffers every minute or two for a second or two, but my processor is pegged on the host machine, so I think the bottleneck is my system, not the connection.

 

[Armoth]

Huh, might have to try that on my mce2k5 box. I bet my hdtv would look especially crappy streamed though...not that I would expect anything different....

 

[hevnsnt]

Thanks.. I was just wondering what I was going to do with that extra box..

[edit]
Could you watch Dish Network with this? Or would you have to have cable?

 

[Chadder007]

Sweet man....

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
Thanks.. I was just wondering what I was going to do with that extra box..

[edit]
Could you watch Dish Network with this? Or would you have to have cable?

Not sure. I saw a list of compatible set top boxes somewhere on their site...

Found it:
Question:
What are the Set-Top Boxes (STB) supported by Orb?
Solution:
If your TV setup includes a Set-Top Box: to change TV channels in Orb you will need a Microsoft MCE-compatible Infra-Red (IR) Blaster (which usually comes bundled with the MCE remote control).

The following Set-Top Boxes are supported by Orb:
TiVo Series 1 and Series 2
Motorola DCT-2000 to DCT-6000
Scientific Atlanta (SA) Explorer Series 2000 to 8000
For Windows XP only: Hughes SD-HBH and DirecTV series DC10-100
The following Remote Controls include IR Blasters supported by Orb:
Philips Media Center Remote Control
SMK Remote Control for Windows XP Media Center Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Remote Control
Hewlett Packard Remote Control for Windows XP Media Center Edition

 

[Tal]

Would this be worth getting if I just want to stream TV from my leadtek tv 2000xp deluxe from downstairs on my LAN to my garage pc? I've tried VLC and had problems with my specific card...

 

[ChoppedBroccoli]

Originally posted by: Tal
Would this be worth getting if I just want to stream TV from my leadtek tv 2000xp deluxe from downstairs on my LAN to my garage pc? I've tried VLC and had problems with my specific card...

Windows Remote Desktop would work, since you'll have 100Mbps to work with (assuming its a wired connection). I've seen my buddy stream video content on Remote Desktop on a campus connection. Also, the leadtek install software integrates with NetMeeting to stream TV content between computers. I would try NetMeeting, that should work. Refer to the Leadtek manual/install docs for more info.

 

[SleepWalkerX]

bit torrent link!

for those who don't want to give them your name, email address, etc they offer the download through bit torrent! this sounds sweet. i'm setting it up right now.

edit: nm you have to use login info for the program. oh well. =\

 

[pmoa]

pretty sweet...i just put it on my comp

 

[Pegun]

if only i had that tv card i wanted...hmmm

 

[VASU111]

Do We need a cable connection for that?
Because I dont own a tv ..so no cable
will it be possible to watch nba games if I register in this site

 

[Winchester]

Sweet!

Now I just wasted $$$ on a Mp3 player.

 

[superflysocal]

any support forum out there?

i can't seem to stream video or live tv. i get windows media player cannot find specified file error when wmp tries to open.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

experiences?

too good to be true?

 

[frankqfrank]

isnt this essentially the same functionality as snapstream?

 

[superflysocal]

snapstream = not free

i am getting a windows cannot connect to server error when wmp tries to play tv or video file. any ideas?

 

[tinkakat]

I,am in. Thanks

 

[KidViciou$]

got it, thx

 

[Winchester]

Only thing I dont like is now Orb now has a record of all the files on my computer.

I didnt know it was going to do that. I dont have any movies but I still dont like someone have direct access to my family pictures.

Just hope Orb doesnt = RIAA.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: Winchester
Only thing I dont like is now Orb now has a record of all the files on my computer.

I didnt know it was going to do that. I dont have any movies but I still dont like someone have direct access to my family pictures.

Just hope Orb doesnt = RIAA.

what could they posisbly do if they were? if you own the music/movies doesn't it not matter as long as you're not sharing it with others? I hadn't considered the possibility but it sure would suck to be double crossed by these people.

-SelArom

 

[MrNutz]

Here's some more info on the "co-founders" Joe Costello and Dr Luc Julia --> BravoBrava

This looks like an early press release before it was called Orb: Feb 16, 2004 Article


So how does the routing work? Does it get streamed from your PC to Orb's servers then to your viewing device?

 

[loup garou]

I just wanted to bump this up. The new versions have gotten progressively better and more stable. There are a few quirks here and there, but for a free product it works amazingly well. I've upgraded my MCE box's processor and can now stream video/live tv with no problems...CPU utilization is a bit high for my liking, but it's not choppy like my first attempt. Still highly recommended!

 

[SunnyD]

Sweet, I think I am going to like this.