Downloads of Orb MyCasting Surge to Half a Million
Milestone Confirms Changing Digital Landscape; Mirrors 2007 US Census Bureau Report of Rapidly Growing Internet and Media Consumption
EMERYVILLE, CA - Dec. 18, 2006 - Following a wave of technology breakthrough announcements and new partnership launches with such companies as Hutchison, Vodafone, Nokia and Orange, Orb Networks, Inc. today announced that more than half a million people have downloaded and are actively using the free service. Orb MyCastingÔ transforms a home computer into a personal broadcasting system by unlocking all of the digital media people have on their personal computers. The milestone mirrors the US Census Bureau Annual Report data, citing overall media consumption is up to an average of 8 ½ hours daily and Americans now spend more than 7 days a year online.
"For Orb, this milestone is a significant one because the rate of adoption and downloads have accelerated between the past three and six months showing more people understand the powerful way that Orb and the Internet lets them unlock the digital content on their home PC and enjoy it anywhere, on any Internet-connected ‘screen' - be it another PC, a laptop, PDA or mobile device with streaming player," said Joe Costello, Chairman and Co-Founder of Orb Networks.
Costello attributes the increase in Orb usage to both growing customer awareness of the new technology choices available to them and the recent mobile carrier partners that launched in Europe over the past six weeks. "With Vodafone's Mein PC, Orange's Mon PC a Distance and the 3 mobile carrier group's Xseries offering, all featuring Orb or being powered by Orb, we're seeing a surge in downloads in those geographies and it's just the beginning as consumers begin to take full advantage of what the mobile web has to offer," Costello added. Other companies recently joining forces with Orb include Nokia and AOL Winamp.
"The census data confirms a macro trend happening not only in the US but around the world - people are consuming more media because of the Internet and will use it even more to take it with them wherever they go," said Costello. "Since the numbers cited are from 2005, I would guarantee if you asked people how much they use the Internet today, we would see an even bigger spike." Costello believes today's numbers are only a small fraction of what is to come as more people use all of the "screens" around them to enjoy their media via the Internet and Orb.
Even though Orb's MyCasting software is only two years old, it has already cemented itself in the "Media Anywhere" trend. Orb users have enjoyed a record 67 million hours - the equivalent of 125 years of digital media streamed from their home computer to a mobile phone, PDA, laptop or other PCs.
Orb MyCasting is available for free at www.orb.com and works on any Internet-enabled device with a streaming media player. It doesn't require any additional software or add-ons. A simple download of the Orb software to an always-on Windows XP PC is all it takes to start MyCasting. The service turns the home PC into a personal broadcasting system, and lets users build and organize their own "channels" to enjoy their music, photos, video, TV, documents and other extras. Then, using any Web browser with a media player, users simply log onto their personal "MyCast" account and can start streaming their channel programming and enjoying the content when (time), where (place), and how (device) they want it. For Live and Recorded broadcast TV to work, the home PC needs to have a TV tuner card. Total set up of Orb and the TV tuner card takes only five minutes of time. Without a tuner card, users can still access hundreds of Internet TV stations from around the world.
About Orb Networks, Inc.
Orb Networks is an award-winning developer of software and services that unlock the digital media stored on personal computers. Orb MyCasting gives consumers secure, free, instant, and everywhere-access to everything from their photos and video to TV and music on virtually any Web-enabled device. The company's partners include: AOL Winamp, AMD, Creative Labs, Hauppauge, Hutchison, Nokia, and Vodafone. Orb Networks is a privately held company in Emeryville, Calif. For more information about Orb Networks and the Orb MyCasting service, please visit www.orb.com.
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