Orb Networks Mobilizes Digital Content Via Streaming

Orb also will offer PVR functionality on XP PCs with built-in TV tuner cards, though with a twist. Besides the standard pause, stop, and record of most PVRs, Orb users will be able to stream live TV through their TV tuner card, over the Internet, and onto a mobile device. Orb also lets users schedule TV recordings on their home PCs from mobile devices. For the time being, Orb won’t work with set-top box PVRs like TiVo, as they haven’t yet secured permission to load their software onto these machines.

Speaking of securing permission, Orb has an interesting, and increasingly common, approach to DRM. "We do not change, alter, or modify any new DRM schemes," explains Harris. "We validate the DRM of the media that’s being streamed on the PC at home to make sure that you have the right to view the stream." (Interestingly, Orb allows for the listening of songs downloaded from iTunes on non-Apple peripherals. Whether or not this fact will cause the same uproar as Real’s recent cracking of Apple’s iTunes encryption remains to be seen.) While Orb doesn’t offer any file-level DRM of its own, it does provide a password-protected Web interface that can set up a secure, encrypted link though Orb’s site, which will protect content from being picked off as it streams over the Internet. Orb also is a leading advocate for the rights of both content providers and consumers, and a member of a pair of DRM advocacy groups, the Digital Media Association and Digital Living Network Alliance.

"We are not enabling file sharing," Jacobson says, pointing to Orb’s streaming-only approach. "We’re taking what you paid for and streaming it to a location," says Harris. "It’s no different than bringing something from your PC to your monitor." When Harris demonstrated Orb for content providers, "At first, they were kind of stunned," says Harris. "It scared them." But once they got over their initial shock and concern, he says, most quickly became excited at the possibility of expanding their reach. Up until this point, in the U.S., "content providers haven’t been able to participate in the wireless revolution," says Jacobson. With Orb, "they’ll be able to get their content out to mobile users."

Of course, that begs the question of how many mobile users are out there who’ll be interested in a service like Orb. Harris admits that, in the beginning, Orb won’t be for everyone. "We’re targeting early adopters," he explains. "Those people who have the high-end PCs with TV tuners, the data packs for their cell phones, and who have numerous digital media content creation products." While Orb will be limited to Media Center PCs until 2005, Harris doesn’t necessarily see this as a constraint, citing the approximately 1.5 million Media Center PCs that have already been purchased. Plus, "with the big push that Microsoft’s putting behind it, not to mention the other major manufacturers, it’s going to be a burgeoning market," he says.