Orb Networks Trumps Apple On Day One With Free PC To TV Service For 17 Million Households
EMERYVILLE, Calif. – March 21, 2007 – Orb NetworksTM
announced that starting today more than 17 million households with
gaming consoles worldwide can now enjoy and share all of the digital
entertainment on their home PCs directly on their living room TV
screen, using the company's free MyCasting software as the bridge. The
announcement comes as Apple begins shipping its Apple TV.
Orb MyCasting now works with the Microsoft Xbox 360?, the world's
largest game console installed base, as well as the Nintendo Wii? and
Sony PlayStation?3, giving gamers the ability to bring all digital
media to their TV screen without any additional costs or hardware
requirements.
"There is a lot of anticipation on who will finally crack the code
on opening the PC-to-TV connection – especially on what Apple TV can
deliver. That day is here and 17 million households – right this minute
– can download Orb onto their home PC, then go turn on their TV, and
using their game console, start enjoying any of the personal media on
their PC or anything on the Web instantly – without having to purchase
another gadget to make it work," said Joe Costello, Chairman and CEO of
Orb Networks.
Apple TV has a marketing machine that will open people's eyes about
the tremendous entertainment potential of linking the PC into the
living room. But, the fact is that the rate of adoption, even for them,
is going to take a long time. Orb is a great alternative that is
available for free today and essentially providing an instant
17-million-household installed base. And, it's not just for Internet
content but for all the digital media stored on the computer," Costello
continued.
Digital media convergence has arrived by way of the gaming world and
Orb. We basically beat Apple to the punch," continued Costello.
According to Costello, the Orb application has the power for
widespread adoption for two reasons – first, it's easy, and second, the
number of game consoles being purchased continues to rise rapidly –
currently at the rate of 250,000 each week. "The speed at which people
are buying and using video game consoles is astounding, and that level
of growth and adoption will have a tsunami effect on the way people
consume digital media in the future," he said.
Recent industry forecasts show that 30% of households worldwide will
own a Nintendo Wii alone in the next five years. ABI Research is also
monitoring this trend.
"When trying something new, you want to be able to push play and
have it work," said Costello. "What's so great about the gaming console
is that people already like and know how to use it: Orb really extends
that fun experience and gives them a huge number of new choices –
whether it's watching their favorite Internet video or listening to
music through their living room sound system. All of their own digital
stuff is there to enjoy easily on the main screen in the home, where
most of us want to be entertained."
Michael Wolf, director of ABI Research says, "This new generation of
gaming consoles – which ABI Research believes will have an installed
base of 168 million worldwide by 2011 – will be one of the main
interfaces for consumers to access a variety of digital media in the
living room. By reaching the XBox 360 as well as the two other
consoles, Orb has given millions of consumers a way to access their
digital media today, and has extended the reach of the company's
MyCasting platform further."
Orb turns the home PC into a personal broadcasting system, and lets
users build and organize their own "channels" to enjoy their music,
photos, video, TV, documents and other extras for viewing on any device
with a streaming media player and Internet connection. The free
MyCasting software allows you to enjoy all digital media from your home
PC, as well as online videos from the growing source of Internet TV and
content sites, on any networked device with an internet browser – be it
other PCs, lap tops, PDAs or mobile phones with streaming players. And
now, TV with gaming consoles including the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and
PlayStation 3.
How Orb Works with your game console:
- Download load Orb at www.orb.com (Version v2.00.0856 or higher) onto your always-on Windows PC at home. It takes less than 3 minutes to do.
- For the Wii and PS3, turn on the TV that is connected to your game
console and open your Web browser. Using your remote control or
controller, log onto your Orb account through your game console at mycast.orb.com. - For the XBox 360, go to the media tab and select the media type
(video, photos, or music) you want to play on your TV. Click "computer"
from the list of options, and you will see a list of the computers
running Orb on your LAN. Select one and then pick from the available
video, photos, or music. - That's it. Now enjoy, watch and listen to any digital content on
your home PC – videos, music, Internet TV and radio or any other online
content you programmed in your Orb MyCast application: they are now all
airing on your TV screen.
About ABI Research
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in
New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual
research programs, intelligence services and market reports in
broadband and multimedia, RFID & contactless, M2M, wireless
connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging
technologies. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com.
About Orb Networks, Inc.
Orb Networks is an award-winning
developer of software and services that unlock the digital media stored
on personal computers. Orb MyCasting gives consumers secure, free,
instant, and everywhere-access to everything from their photos and
video to TV and music on virtually any Web-enabled device. The
company's partners and affiliates include: AOL Winamp, AMD, Creative
Labs, Hauppauge, Hutchison, Nokia, Orange and Vodafone. Orb Networks is
a privately held company in Emeryville, Calif. For more information
about Orb Networks and the Orb MyCasting service, please visit www.orb.com.
Orb and MyCast are trademarks of Orb Networks, Inc. All other
trademarks and/or registered trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.