Orb Networks Mobilizes Digital Content Via Streaming

Until Orb goes live, there’s no telling what application will be the driving force behind the service’s adoption by users. "In all the usability and focus group testing that we’ve done, it’s different for everyone," says Jacobson. "TV is the sexiest and music will be the largest, most enthusiastic audience, but one of the most popular is viewing photos. Everyone that has a digital camera wants to be able to show off their images." What the company finds most exciting is how users will find their own novel ways of using Orb. "We’re not the usage rocket scientists here," Harris quips. "We’re going to see people using Orb in instances that we haven’t even imagined."

Users can download the free software from Orb’s site and sign up for the service, which costs $9.99 a month or $79.99 per year. (Additional users can be added for $3.99 a month each.)

At the same time it announced the personal media portal, Orb Networks announced it had just closed on its first round of financing, raising $4 million dollars. The company plans to use this money to launch the Orb product in the coming months. "The larger picture is our desire to become the ‘ingredient brand,’ the OEM in the back-end," says Harris.

To accomplish this, Orb has multiple business models for building the Orb brand as well as revenue. First, there’s the subscription model, which generates revenue from users going to Orb’s site and signing up for the service. Second, Orb’s working with partners to bundle Orb into other offerings. For example, a wireless broadband provider might want to give an Orb subscription away for free to new subscribers, sharing the revenue with Orb. Finally, Harris envisions additional partnerships with content providers to cross promote products, like selling concert tickets alongside MP3s. Orb also intends to include a way for users to purchase content online from their mobile devices—files would be paid for, downloaded onto the home PC, and then made available via streaming.

"Our strategy is to go introduce this product to the world and go direct to customers," Harris says. "We’re working with well over a dozen major players, and will be making announcements starting at CES and continuing on through 2005."