MikeBenton.org

Everyone cheer for Mike! Hip Hip Hooray!

If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, my first review has been posted on PocketNow.com. Writing a full review on a piece of software had a learning curve to it. When I first started the review I took screenshots of every single screen and menu. I also recorded a voice walk through of the software. Mostly to become familiar with the inner workings of it. My first draft was tediously boring compared to the posted one. I put the walk through to the pictures basically. Although there are a few that might find it helpful, the reality is that it would take 30 – 1 hr to read the whole thing if I continued at that pace. Brandon, the Editor-In-Chief, played a great role in mentoring towards a great review. Thanks Brandon. It was a fun process and a great opportunity and I am anxious for the next.

Oh, if you want to read the review, you can find it here at PocketNow.com

Orb 2.0 installs on your home pc and indexes your music, video files, documents and TV tuner card. You can access all your content via a web interface. You can one file or a whole playlist. Search for that document you need and record TV shows. The interface works on any device with a webbrowser and internet connection. Since most of these devices (your phone) can also play music files you can stream the music on your home computer to wherever you are.

 This really beats needing a larger memory card to store more music. This even beats trying to synchronize your MP3 player with your desktop and then worrying about it being lost, broken or even stolen. If you are like me you probably have a couple movies on your computer, these are accessible as well.

 The whole program from install to use is seamless. There is a built in speed test when you access your content away from home. This tells your home pc how much quality the video or audio should be set to. Obviously, the greater network speed means greater quality. If you use Windows Media Player and are an URGE subscriber, any of the downloaded music requiring DRM licensing still work through Orb!

I tested this on my Pocket PC with my GPRS connection and it worked fine, the video size was a bit smaller but the stream worked great. When I connected to a Wifi connection the video was flawless. By the way, it works great on Vista.

In addition to media access the interface is Web 2.0 style. You can add Google Gadgets, RSS feeds and more to personalize your MyCast page on Orb. After using the web interface a few times you might even feel inclined to set it as your homepage. Check it here. It’s Free!!!