You might get the chance to watch cable television while waiting in your doctor's office, if you subscribe to Orb Networks' new service letting users access digital media remotely – even live television – from any device with a Web connection.
The Orb technology can grab music, video, or photo files stored on a home computer and stream them to any Web-enabled device that can be carried portably, and cable or satellite television can also be accessed as long as the video output is hooked up to a home computer network, Orb said.
"We think of this as a personal media portal," said chief executive Jim Behrens announcing the new technology, expected to be available in mid-November. "Your media is always with you." Behrens also said they're not exactly aiming for joining the peer-to-peer swap world, either. "We want content creators to get paid for their content, but once users have paid for it, they should be able to play it on whatever device they want and wherever they want," he said. Hollywood, of course, has challenged even that in the past.
“We have found a way to bring consumers what they want – simple access at any time. Consumers can watch live TV on their laptop while in a Wi-Fi cafe, schedule a DVR recording through their PDA, or even listen to their music on their cell phone while jogging, biking, or shopping," he said. "We think this is extremely viral technology, taking the ‘home’ out of ‘home media.’
Orb plans to demonstrate the service at this week's DigitalLife 2004 conference at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center.
Based on Orb's "Orb Architecture" technology, the service lets you open a Web browser on any device, log in, and pick what you want from a personal library, with Orb taking care of the rest, including best format, codec, bit rates, display capabilities, and network bandwidth available for particular cell phones, PDAs, or laptops, the company said.
“The divisions between broadband and wireless technology continue to blur as more advanced services that can be delivered using these mediums become available,” said IDC group vice president for clients and mobility Randy Giusto about Orb's service's potential. “Wireless carriers and content providers have already begun to develop market strategies for these new-generation services. Digital streaming media services are arriving and will not only take advantage of existing devices and technology, but forge products and new usage patterns among consumers in the years ahead.”
