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A Swedish Wii owner took advantage of the console's built-in Opera browser and Wi-Fi to tap into his PC's media collection shortly before Christmas. The Wii remote can then be used to show photos and browse iTunes playlists on the TV.
Getting your stuff from a computer to a TV set has defied some of the biggest companies in the business. Games rivals Sony and Microsoft have spent billions - the figure probably tops $10bn - developing expensive console hardware to support ambitious "convergence" strategies this decade. But with a simple (and quite legitimate) hack, Nintendo has beaten them to it with cheap hardware, and no apparent strategy at all.
The irony wasn't lost on one Digg poster, who wrote:
"How cool that it'd be Nintendo - the only one of the Big Three WITHOUT much-hyped aspirations to provide a console that'd go beyond gaming and become the mythical Digital Hub for the TV - who would deliver on that vision first."
Orb simply provides the bridge software, which runs on a network-connected Windows PC and a free user account. The company blessed the hack on 5 January.
Well its nice to see that you dont have to spend £500 - £2000 to get a "HUB" and I am sure this is a perfect solution to people on a budget.
A Swedish Wii owner took advantage of the console's built-in Opera browser and Wi-Fi to tap into his PC's media collection shortly before Christmas. The Wii remote can then be used to show photos and browse iTunes playlists on the TV.
Getting your stuff from a computer to a TV set has defied some of the biggest companies in the business. Games rivals Sony and Microsoft have spent billions - the figure probably tops $10bn - developing expensive console hardware to support ambitious "convergence" strategies this decade. But with a simple (and quite legitimate) hack, Nintendo has beaten them to it with cheap hardware, and no apparent strategy at all.
The irony wasn't lost on one Digg poster, who wrote:
"How cool that it'd be Nintendo - the only one of the Big Three WITHOUT much-hyped aspirations to provide a console that'd go beyond gaming and become the mythical Digital Hub for the TV - who would deliver on that vision first."
Orb simply provides the bridge software, which runs on a network-connected Windows PC and a free user account. The company blessed the hack on 5 January.
Well its nice to see that you dont have to spend £500 - £2000 to get a "HUB" and I am sure this is a perfect solution to people on a budget.
Firstly, Orb is nothing to do with Nintendo. Its a generic solution that works on any device that has access to a browser or is capable of streaming media already. Yes this includes the Wii, but it also includes the PS3, XBOX 360, and set top boxes with browsers too. So basically Nintendo havent delivered on any vision here. And they certainly havent done it first. The original XBOX could be modded to be a media centre and the 360 has built in support for streaming too so even in the console market they arent first. I can stream content from my PC to a TV without buying a console to do it anyway. So exactly what is the big story here? The Wii is still incapable of acting as a media hub as the 360 and PS3 try to be. So nice games console the Wii might be, cheap solution for media hub its not. :)
> No where here does it mention that the Orb software is anything
> to do with Nintendo.
The thread title "Wii outdoes the PS3 again" and then we have "Nintendo has beaten them to it with cheap hardware". There is clearly an implication that this is some achievement by Nintendo.
> Nor does it say it is the first. It says it
> is the first of the big three (Next Gen consoles).
The quote from the digg poster, "...who would deliver on that vision first". They're trying to say that Nintendo will obtain a goal before the others. Yet the others already had the media hub functionality.
> As I have
> already mentioned it is no replacement for a PC based hub but it
> is considerably cheaper than any other solutions, though it may
> not offer as much as some of the others.
Of course its no replacement. As a PC is required for this solution. Now quite how you fathom that a Wii + PC is cheaper than a PS3 or 360 I dont know. You say well most people already own a PC yet if thats the case theres certainly no need to buy a 180 pound console to stream content to a TV. Thats an expensive solution.
Its a nice little extra for the Wii no doubt but thats all it is.
The PS3 seems the best for creating a hub without a PC, though the space is obviously limited. (Not sure if it supports USB Hard Drives?). The 360 does support MP3 and photos on the hard drive, but not video unless it's downloaded from Xbox Live. It also has nowhere near enough HD space to use without a PC, so just becomes a useful hub for streaming (though its very picky about what it can stream).
The Wii using Orb can do quite a lot of what the 360 can do in terms of streaming, so its not bad. It's not what Nintendo intended, but it's a nice touch for anyone wanting to have a basic streaming device if they already own a Wii.
As for me, my PC is upstairs, my TV downstairs. Streaming seems great, till you realise that you need the PC and the TV and the hub of some sort all on at the same time. Easier, then, to buy an 80gb Ipod and a set of leads for the TV, perhaps. The consoles claim to have all these hub features isn't really all that great. It's a case of; great if you've got the console, but not worth buying one just for that feature.