Orb Apps Now Available In Marketplace

[aguilafan]

Forgive me if this was mentioned already, but I was browsing Apps in the "Just Added" section today and came across four Orb Media Streaming apps.

The interface is very similar to the iPhone app with the only difference being that all four versions of the Android app allow for streaming over WiFi AND 3G.

The first of which is free and is called Orb Live Free edition. It's pretty much worthless and is basically a test of whether or not the software will work on your phone.

The second is called Orb Music and it allows you to stream music off of your computer through the app. This costs $0.99.

The third is called Orb Media. This version allows you to stream all previously recorded music and video on your computer's hard drive. Not sure but I believe it costs $4.99.

The fourth and most expensive version is Orb Live. Basically it offers both media and video streaming, as well as the ability to stream Live TV. This costs $9.99.

I purchased the fourth and most feature-rich option to hold me over while I wait for a Sling Box app. So far, from the brief time I have spent using the app, I can say the music streaming works really well. I was able to stream a playlist of songs and the quality was very good although not as good as Pandora.

Personally, I foudn it easier to make playlists and find songs in the app than it is to do so through the web browser.

In terms of streaming video, I tried playing an XVid encoded episode of Malcolm in the Middle and to be honest I wasn't exactly thrilled by the video quality. It is similar to the quality of the video produced by the Sling Player app on the Blackberry. Also, there were times were the video didn't play at all.

I have yet to play around with the Live TV feature, but when I do I'll be sure to post back.

My recommendation to those sitting on the fence is to play around with the freebie version and see how it runs on your phone. You maybe able to get by with using Orb through the web browser or perhaps one of the more inexpensive versions of the app, especially if you don't have a TV tuner.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask away.

[SGTiger]

How would you connect to a satellite tv receiver with this? Would just connect the sat output to a tv tuner installed onto your computer? If so, how would you send commands to the sat receiver to change channels, etc...?

[MrCapcom]

you were streaming from ur computer to wifi or did u use the web ?

[aguilafan]

How would you connect to a satellite tv receiver with this? Would just connect the sat output to a tv tuner installed onto your computer? If so, how would you send commands to the sat receiver to change channels, etc...?

I have a cable box myself, but I'm assuming the setup would be the same. You hook up the box to the tuner like you said.

In order to change the channels you would need an IR receiver like this one. Once you have the receiver hooked up you would install the Orb software onto your PC and then run the installer.

[aguilafan]

you were streaming from ur computer to wifi or did u use the web ?

I streamed primarily over 3G.

[MrCapcom]

hows the video over wifi? If I got orb it would only be to stream video while im at home from my computer. I would suspect over the internet it would be choppy because of bandwidth

[SGTiger]

How would you connect to a satellite tv receiver with this? Would just connect the sat output to a tv tuner installed onto your computer? If so, how would you send commands to the sat receiver to change channels, etc...?

I have a cable box myself, but I'm assuming the setup would be the same. You hook up the box to the tuner like you said.

In order to change the channels you would need an IR receiver like this one. Once you have the receiver hooked up you would install the Orb software onto your PC and then run the installer.

Thanks for the heads up on this app, aguilafan. Please give us a review once you try out the live tv. I am sick and tired of waiting on Sling to give us a Android client for the Slingbox.

[aguilafan]

hows the video over wifi? If I got orb it would only be to stream video while im at home from my computer. I would suspect over the internet it would be choppy because of bandwidth

I will get back to you on the WiFi...I don't have the phone on me this very second. In regards to the chopiness. I wouldn't say the quality was choppy. When I was able to stream video it was blurry and didn't take up the whole screen.

My main problem isn't necessarily the quality, but rather I had a difficult time getting the video to stream consistently, but that could be do to insufficient coverage.

[aguilafan]

hows the video over wifi? If I got orb it would only be to stream video while im at home from my computer. I would suspect over the internet it would be choppy because of bandwidth

Ok just streamed the same episode over WiFi. The quality isn't much better, however to be fair its much better than what I'm used to getting on my blackberry.

It's weird comparing the two, I think the 3G streams are actually a little clearer, which I don't understand.

My advice to you is to check out the free version for yourself and see if the quality is acceptable enough for you.

[jimnutt]

As of right now, I'm sticking with the browser based version. The video quality on the app is horrible and it doesn't do full screen. Through the app the resolution looks to be no more than 480x320 (if that) and it's very choppy. When I stream through the browser I get full screen video that actually looks decent. No way am I spending $10 on something that looks worse than the free.