I’ve got a large collection of videos. Different codecs, but mostly MPEG-2 and MPEG4. A whole bunch of different containers – AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, and ASF. Mostly the first two, a few of the third, and a smattering of the two latter ones.
Anyway, what I used to do with video I had downloaded, was to use some kind of conversion program to create a VCD or DVD. I quit doing that a while back when I got a bigger monitor, and now I just the native files on the computer monitor.
I had my first smartphone, a Microsoft SPV, back in 2003, but it didn’t do online video – there was very little of it about then – YouTube didn’t start up until early 2005, and any video I had shot with my Hi-8 camera had been transferred to DVD or left on the original tapes, none of it was stored locally or remotely in an readily viewable digital format.
Then along came my Blackberry Curve. There’s a phone in there somewhere, but, I can get directions, take photos, shoot video.
Also, it’s a hand-held entertainment center. I can listen to mp3s, podcasts, internet radio, watch TV, and also I can convert those AVI files to an mp4 format that fits the Curve’s screen nicely. With my Motorola HT820 bluetooth headset, I get decent quality stereo and the picture is quite superb for such a small screen.
However, to listen to those mp3′s and to watch those videos I’ve downloaded, I need to either download them to the phone, or convert them first as well.
Now, this is where Orb comes in.
Orb isn’t new, it’s been around a few years now, but it’s gotten better, and networks have gotten faster and comptuers more powerful. Cellphones have become smartphones of course.
Orb is a web-based streaming service that allows you to stream video and music and photographs, and even documents directly to other devices, including your PDA or cellphone, without any conversion.
It’s dead simple to set up. You go to the web site, and sign up, and then download the desktop application into your computer. Your computer has to be running, and the Orb applet running at all times that you want to access your files. Once you’ve set it up, you access the mobile site on your cellphone and away you go.
Listening to the music from your computers hard drive works just fine, as does watching video.
It’ll transcode most of those video formats, including DivX and Quicktime, on the fly.
Personally, I’ve not tried using it for TV, as I already have the Axcess TV app on my Curve and use that instead.
There’s been a couple of glitches. A few files don’t want to play ball and render correctly, but by and large, for a free service, it works well. It’ll work also with an X-Box, PS3, and Wii, and to your living room TV across your network.
As it’s free, it’s worth checking it out, before you shell out for an Apple TV or other pricey equipment. You get the full version, so you’ve nothing to lose if it doesn’t work for you, except a few hours and a little patience.