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Orb posts

Orb 2.0 streams live TV to your iPhone

by Nilay Patel, posted Nov 20th 2008 at 3:14PM

We knew Orb was working on an iPhone port of its media-streaming app, and it looks like Orb 2.0 just stealthily went live in the App Store. The $10 app lets TV junkies watch live TV from a tuner connected to a Windows PC, as well as stream music, videos, and photos from their libraries. Even cooler, Orb allows you to monitor a webcam, so you can finally nail those Diet Coke thieves from the comfort of your cube (or keep an eye on your infant, whatever.) Sadly there's no date for the Mac and Linux versions, but Orb says they're on the way. Alright Sling, looks like the ball's in your court.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Video: Orb Swarm gets a brain, going autonomous at Burning Man

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 6th 2008 at 5:46AM

Remember Orb Swarm, that merry band of rolling semi-autonomous spheres? Well, they've seen the open-source wizard and came back with a brain. In other words, they've gone autonomous, or mostly so as they are now capable of navigating within a pre-defined GPS course. Besides navigation, these orbs feature an embedded processor, accelerometer and ZigBee wireless communication all of which allow the rolling spheres to "flock , flirt, dance and interact," say their creators. They're set for release en masse onto the Burning Man playa at the end of this month where they're sure to punish chemically-influenced revelers with a sense of panic suitable to the uprising. Check the video after the break for a taste if participating in pagan festivals celebrating experimental living is a bit beyond your sense of sheltered sensibility.

[Via Hack A Day and BotJunkie]

Continue reading Video: Orb Swarm gets a brain, going autonomous at Burning Man

Swarm project lets semiautonomous orbs loose

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 4:46PM

Ah, it doesn't get much better than a smattering of spheres rolling about with absolutely no human intervention, now does it? Said scenario is exactly what members of the Swarm project are attempting to create, and while it managed to make an early appearance at Yuri's Night, the big show won't be unveiled until Burning Man commences. When all's said and done, a number of orbs will "flock, flirt, dance and interact" based solely on instructions beamed out by the directing orb, or mother node. Just be sure not to put yourself in the path of an oncoming ball of fury should you show up for the fireworks -- after all, it's not like a fellow human is directing the act.

Orb reportedly set to announce support for iPhone, iPod touch

by Donald Melanson, posted Dec 12th 2007 at 1:07PM

Not that it comes as a huge surprise given the wide array of devices it already supports, but according to The Register, Orb is apparently set to finally get official with its support of both the iPhone and the iPod touch "in the next few days." As with other devices, that'll let you get in a little place-shifting with the aid of the iPhone's browser, including letting access your music collection via the Orb-powered version of Winamp. On the iPhone, you'll also have the added benefit of being able to send links to songs in an SMS chat session. Of course, just 'cause it's not official doesn't mean you make use of Orb in its current state which, for all we know, could be exactly what's in store when Orb does make things official.

USB Moody Ball apes Ambient Orb, soothes your soul

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 5th 2007 at 1:59PM

Connectland's USB Moody Ball may look awfully soothing, yet awfully familiar at first glance. If so, you're probably conjuring up memories of the Ambient Orb, which this device no doubt takes more than a few design cues from. Nevertheless, this USB-powered soul soother automatically changes hues to ease your mind, is constructed from "bump-resistant" materials and weighs in at 179-grams. Best of all, this one's just $20, but convincing your boss to leave the office lights dim just so your Moody Ball can have a greater effect will be the real challenge.

Ambient Orb power-usage hack reduces energy consumption by 40%

by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 27th 2007 at 11:03PM

We've seen some interesting uses for Ambient Devices' various "thin data" products, but Mark Martinez, a Southern California Edison power station manager, has probably hit upon the most interesting application we've seen: by reprogramming the device to reflect energy usage and costs, customers in his 120-person test program managed to reduce their energy consumption by 40 percent. Martinez chalks the results up to the "sentinel effect," saying that ""It's nonintrusive. It has a relatively benign effect. But when you suddenly see your ball flashing red, you notice." Ambient Devices actually sells a similar product called the EnergyJoule, and we've seen some other monitoring attempts before, but we think we like Martinez's hack better -- it brings a little mod flair to living green. Hopefully he'll let us know how he did it soon.

[Via Inhabitat]

Orb works with Wii, PS3, and now 360

by Erik Hanson, posted Mar 22nd 2007 at 5:15PM

Not to have the thunder completely stolen by the Apple TV, Orb Networks has announced compatibility for streaming media service with Wii, PS3, and now Xbox 360 console owners. The newly-added 360 support can use the built-in media capabilities of its Windows Media Center Extender, with just the Orb software on the PC end. PS3 and Wii setups stream from a Flash-embedded MyCast site. The Orb streamer only plays well with Vista and XP, and needs a 2.4GHz Pentium 4, AMD 3200+, or higher CPU, as well as Windows Media, Real, or Quicktime Players for the streaming. Content also ends up as Flash video, so that probably nixes any support for high definition, but if you're itching to do some streaming to your console across the house -- or across the globe -- and don't want to wait for or use Apple's solution, then Orb could be the best thing for you.

[Thanks, gibber9583]

SageTV Placeshifter offers mobile content streaming

by Evan Blass, posted Apr 25th 2006 at 4:36PM

Those of you who do the home theater thing from your PC and are for some reason unhappy with the free streaming service offered by Orb now have a new way of "slinging" your content to a remote computer with SageTV's Placeshifter add-on. The $30 software, which requires the $80 SageTV media center package, offers remote access to videos, music, photos, and if you have a TV tuner card or USB device, both live and recorded programming. Cnet got a "first look" at Placeshifter in action, and reports spotty but acceptable performance, with the delays and artifact-infested video we've come to ~~expect~~ accept from these remote streaming services. While we're pretty happy with our free Windows Media Center and Orb setup, if you already own SageTV, the one-time fee might be worth it to free your content with the knowledge that someone's there to troubleshoot the inevitable problems.

[Via PVR Wire]

Orb works TiVo with DVR Everywhere

by Ryan Block, posted Apr 13th 2006 at 12:19PM

Orb (finally) just officially took a page out of the Book of SlingBox today with the release of DVR Everywhere, their TiVo-streaming and controlling Orb add-on (~~not~~ to be easily confused with TiVoAnywhere, that other Orb / TiVo add-on which is now apparently DVR Everywhere). Basically you'll get the same easy-to-use no firewall adjustments necessary Orb experience steamed to your laptop or portable in Real, Windows Media, or 3GP, but with recordings culled from your Series2 TiVo (which is also controllable by said software -- something also available for a while). Not quite as versatile as your SlingBox, which can pull video from just about any DVR device you can throw at it, but hey, it's a start -- especially if you've been considering that new dual tuner TiVo that we've been dangling from a string.

[Via PR Newswire]