Orb Networks Releases V4S Skype Add-On

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.orb.com/download/v4s/' target='_blank'>http://www.orb.com/download/v4s/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Orb also gives you access to ALL your home media from any Web-connected device: live TV, photos, tunes, videos, and more! Once you've installed V4S, simply log in to <a href="http://my.orb.com">http://my.orb.com</a> from any Web-connected device and stream your voicemails! If you don't have Skype or Orb yet, don’t worry: we'll prompt you to get these while installing V4S."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050813-V4S.gif" /><br /><br />The other day, I posted on Orb Networks' release of the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42172">add-on APIs</a> - a set of tools for developers who want to create their own plug-ins for use with the Orb service. End users don't leave empty-handed though. A new V4S Skype add-on is already available from the Orb Networks site. It allows users to stream Skype voicemails through Orb.<br /><br />Keep your eyes peeled on the <a href="http://www.orb.com/download/">Orb Downloads page</a> for a batch of new add-ons which will be released over the coming weeks.

[jlp]

Anybody knows Orb's business model?

Coz with a dozen top managers in their payroll, they don't live of fresh air...

Me think the free service will end as soon as they will reach a good number of addicted users. Looks like drug dealers modus operandi

[dave]

Anybody knows Orb's business model?



first of all, i have to say that this product over EV-DO is off the hook. i'm getting 15/2 fios at home in a couple of weeks that should make it even more ridiculous.

as for the business model, i'm still trying to figure that one out myself. i've come up with a few possible options:

1) they are trying to get acquired. why wouldn't some bigger fish want this technology? google? microsoft? apple? with respect to apple, the battery drain of streaming media over EV is about the only thing restraining orb's ipod-killing potential. and coverage i guess, but if you can't get enough media on a 2gb sd card to last you through a couple of flights, you likely have issues.

2) target ads and content. think tivo here. you have to go through orb's portal to get to your media. this could actually be pretty cool if executed well.

3) deals with oem's. tighter product integration, preferred placement, etc.

4) the give it away free to cultivate addiction model.

[Handy]

first of all, i have to say that this product over EV-DO is off the hook. i'm getting 15/2 fios at home in a couple of weeks that should make it even more ridiculous.

What does that mean? Can someone translate for me?

[DaleReeck]

Anybody knows Orb's business model?

Coz with a dozen top managers in their payroll, they don't live of fresh air...

Me think the free service will end as soon as they will reach a good number of addicted users. Looks like drug dealers modus operandi

Actually, it's just the opposite. When Orb first started up, they charged a monthly fee ($10/month I think). Now they are free. I think what happened is, they got some large enterprise customers on board that they supply services to for a fee and support us "free" personal users off things like web ads and such.

[DaleReeck]

first of all, i have to say that this product over EV-DO is off the hook. i'm getting 15/2 fios at home in a couple of weeks that should make it even more ridiculous.

What does that mean? Can someone translate for me?

Translation: Orb works great over EVDO service. With FIOS (Fiber optic internet service to the house, provided by carriers like Verizon), providing 15MBPS download and 2MBPS upload speeds, Orb will be even better.

[jlp]

Thanks I had trouble understanding this Double Dutch :lol:

[Handy]

I set up Orb and it works great when I use it from another PC.

I have some problems when using it with a PPC, though. I wish that Orb would let you use something other than WMP on a PPC, because WMP sucks. Also, I have a problem downloading the URL into WMP. When I use PIE to download the URL, it offers to save the .asx file, but it mangles the URL. I have to manually correct it to get it to work.

Has anybody found a better way to do this?

[CoreyJF]

Fortunately I live in the DC area and Verizon has pretty good EVDO coverage here. I have to say, ORB + Samsung I-730 + EVDO speed = place/time shifting goodness.

I love snapstream, but Orb does an amazing job of supplementing it features. I was concerned about Orb and snapstream playing nice on the same machine so I set up a network drive (mapped to my snapstream box) on a second computer. Being able to stream recorded shows without having to re-encode first is incredibly convenient.

Audible is another service that is enhanced by Orb. Being able to natively stream audio books to a pocketpc phone over the internet is a feature still lacking from audible. The other day I forgot to load the second section of a book I was listening to from audible on to my ipod, but fortunately I had already added that directory to orb. You can’t do much more then pause and play. But stuck in DC beltway traffic it served in a pinch.

[CoreyJF]

I set up Orb and it works great when I use it from another PC.

I have some problems when using it with a PPC, though. I wish that Orb would let you use something other than WMP on a PPC, because WMP sucks. Also, I have a problem downloading the URL into WMP. When I use PIE to download the URL, it offers to save the .asx file, but it mangles the URL. I have to manually correct it to get it to work.

Has anybody found a better way to do this?

What hardware and OS are you using. Orb through PIE on WM 2003 SE works flawlessly on my Sumsung I-730 and on my old Dell X30

[Handy]

I'm using an Axim X5 with WMP9.

I figured out the problem. I had a registry hack that made PIE pretend it was at version 6.0. Once I turned off the registry hack it streamed properly.

I still don't like WMP, though. Everytime I launch WMP, it sees the shared directories on my desktop PC and starts scanning through them. It hangs up for several minutes while it checks through all the directories looking for files. As far as I know there's no way to prevent this other than to disconnect my PPC from my wi-fi network before I launch WMP.

[myuser]

You should try TCPMP, it's a much better player than WMP and it works great with Orb.
http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/download
You'll then have to go in its settings to associate asx mimetype with it.

[Handy]

I installed TCPMP last night and tried it our with Orb. It seems to work much better than WMP. It didn't work with one of the Internet TV streams that I tried, but I may need to add a codec or something. Hopefully, I can switch to TCPMP and say goodbye to WMP!