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Milestone Confirms Changing Digital Landscape; Mirrors 2007 US Census Bureau
Report of Rapidly Growing Internet and Media Consumption
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 18 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 MyCasting(TM) 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 1/2 hours daily and Americans now spend more 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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