Orb - You really must check it out!

Published on July 25, 2006 By BlueDev In Internet

I try not to gush too much about things I find online, but this one is just too freaking cool.

I am sitting here, at the hospital on an incredibly slow day (all the surgeons on my service are out of town, but I am on call, so here I sit), at a computer in the Resident's call room. Bored, sure, but not nearly as much as I was. I am jamming out to a little Deadsoul Tribe. But the cool thing is, it isn't on my iPod (well, it is, but I don't have it with me). It is on my home PC.

Last night I downloaded Orb to my home PC, installed it, and told it where my media files are. So today, at work, I log into the My Orb website, select an album, and hit Play. Bam. I now have access to all my music, all my photos and all my videos. No matter where, on any device that connects to the internet.

Orb detects my network speed, scales the quality of the file accordingly, and streams it fast. Want to watch one of my movies on my Pocket PC? No problem. On your mobile phone? Go for it.

Of course, there are going to be glitches, mostly determined by the network speed of the machines. But I am getting my mp3's at 128k right now, without a single hiccup. I just watched the Halo 3 trailer, looked pretty good. Yes, it decreased the quality some, but it was certainly still good enough to watch. Oh, and I just showed off, with some photos of my children. All sitting right there on my home laptop, securely streamed to wherever I am.

In the past, they charged $9.99/month for the service, but have since made it free. Honestly, this is one of the coolest programs I have ever found. I am in love.

Comments

Bunnahabhain

on Jul 25, 2006

Hi Bluedev,

In the past, they charged $9.99/month for the service, but have since made it free.

Okay, so what's the catch? I went to their website and looked around, but I didn't walk away with a comfy feeling.

Do you know what their business model is? What do I have to give up in order to get this for free? I'd like to know in advance. Thanks!

BlueDev

on Jul 25, 2006

Good questions. I read a bunch of articles on the site last night from Wired, engadget, USAtoday, CNET and the like. It appears that the business model is that they are forming exclusive relationships with media providers to deliver content. When you log in you will have all your stuff there, but there will also be some other content if you want, provided by those who are paying for it. As far as I could tell, you don't give anything up other than the info of what media files you have so they can put them in your database. I don't know how much they gather in terms of personal information. You don't have to give them much when you sign up. So far, it has been a positive experience for me. I will, of course, report anything weird that happens.

dynamaso

on Jul 25, 2006

I like the sound of this although I do wonder about the catch myself. I'm going to go have a look at the site later. Thanks for mentioning it.

thatoneguyinslc

on Jul 25, 2006

I just found out about Orb a few days ago. So far i'm pretty impressed. I can watch videos on my blackberry.

foreverserenity

on Jul 30, 2006

This sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing!

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