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Demonstrating that you can do convergence on a budget, Orb claims that Nintendo Wii owners have downloaded 50,000 copies of its software that permits them to access their home music and photo collections on their games consoles.
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.
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You are right about an opinion and i apologise. It is not based in fact or knowledge and maybe Crap was a bit of a strong word. The PS3 does out perform the others in many ways but the point I am trying to make is that these functions, a PC can do even better. Seeing as most people have a PC for these things I tend to assume that when people look at consoles they are looking at the gaming side and not any of the multimedia bits and bobs. The games are pretty but not very good so far. I may buy one again when there are better titles for it... Bring on GTA. Hopefully by then it will be cheaper too. I suppose it just seems a little dirty to me. I have owned most consoles since the spectrums and I am used to them playing games.....thats it. Suppose it all had to change eventually.
When I said "without a next generation console you have to have something to do with your day" I didn't mean thats ALL there is to do in a day. I work for example, some people go for walks or sit in the sun. It was supposed to be a veiled comment about how quickly he was responding to my postings as every time I took a break there was an answer.
When I said "without a next generation console you have to have something to do with your day" I didn't mean thats ALL there is to do in a day. I work for example, some people go for walks or sit in the sun. It was supposed to be a veiled comment about how quickly he was responding to my postings as every time I took a break there was an answer.
Garin wrote:
> pb wrote:
> I'd be interested to see how you stream PC files to your TV
> without additional equipment.
>
> I never said without additional equipment, you just dont need to
> spend money on a console to do it.
>
If you're saying don't buy a console for the sake of getting something to stream media from, I agree. I still think the best solution is to have a dedicated machine with a huge hard drive, that sits in a cupboard and holds all your media. You can read or write to it from a PC and digital box (like recording from Sky+ or having your iTunes set up there) and it handles all video and audio formats. That would be ideal.
Part of the issues with consoles is that they're precious about storing video from other sources on their hard drives, to avoid any copyright issues. Microsoft takes this to extremes, allowing you to only stream formats it deams fit. It goes against the whole idea of a hub style interface that handles everything.
> pb wrote:
> I'd be interested to see how you stream PC files to your TV
> without additional equipment.
>
> I never said without additional equipment, you just dont need to
> spend money on a console to do it.
>
If you're saying don't buy a console for the sake of getting something to stream media from, I agree. I still think the best solution is to have a dedicated machine with a huge hard drive, that sits in a cupboard and holds all your media. You can read or write to it from a PC and digital box (like recording from Sky+ or having your iTunes set up there) and it handles all video and audio formats. That would be ideal.
Part of the issues with consoles is that they're precious about storing video from other sources on their hard drives, to avoid any copyright issues. Microsoft takes this to extremes, allowing you to only stream formats it deams fit. It goes against the whole idea of a hub style interface that handles everything.
I'm looking forward to Orb (game). Crossbeam Studios are looking promising.
DoomBaboon1982 wrote:
> OOOOOOOOOOO. I did the research. I would have been happy to own
> all three but the PS3 is crap.
Exactly because you have come to that conclusion is purely why he's arguing(?) with you. It seems very biased since the PS3 outperfoms the other two strongly in some areas. Simply because these areas don't affect or impress you doesn't mean that the console itself is "crap".
> Also how you can come on a forum
> and spout knowledge and opinions on all three consoles if you
> own none of them. At least my opinions are based on more than
> what other people who probably dont own the console have said.
Knowledge can be obtained, probably with far more ease, with facts from the internet.
An opinion, by definition, requires very little knowledge of something; it is something you make your own mind up on.
> Suppose without a next gen console you have to do something with
> your day.
Oh dear...
> OOOOOOOOOOO. I did the research. I would have been happy to own
> all three but the PS3 is crap.
Exactly because you have come to that conclusion is purely why he's arguing(?) with you. It seems very biased since the PS3 outperfoms the other two strongly in some areas. Simply because these areas don't affect or impress you doesn't mean that the console itself is "crap".
> Also how you can come on a forum
> and spout knowledge and opinions on all three consoles if you
> own none of them. At least my opinions are based on more than
> what other people who probably dont own the console have said.
Knowledge can be obtained, probably with far more ease, with facts from the internet.
An opinion, by definition, requires very little knowledge of something; it is something you make your own mind up on.
> Suppose without a next gen console you have to do something with
> your day.
Oh dear...
Well Garin, I do agree with you that its not great thing to the tech savvy as the PC solutions for streaming T.V are far more reliable..... only who has their PC next to their TV in the lounge. If you live in a bedsit or a one bed flat maybe but to be honest the whole idea of a lounge hub is to provide something that isn't huge and ugly as sin that fits in with your average lounge.
OOOOOOOOOOO. I did the research. I would have been happy to own all three but the PS3 is crap. Also how you can come on a forum and spout knowledge and opinions on all three consoles if you own none of them. At least my opinions are based on more than what other people who probably dont own the console have said.
Suppose without a next gen console you have to do something with your day.
Suppose without a next gen console you have to do something with your day.
Mmmm i do love the smell of fanboy in the afternoon :-D
DoomBaboon1982 wrote:
> To be honest PB i think we are dealing with someone who has
> bought one and is now wondering why the hell they did it :)
FYI I dont own a Wii, a 360 or a PS3. Before spending money I try to educate myself as to what I'm purchasing. That way I dont have to resell it and come onto forums and say negatives things about it every post. :)
> To be honest PB i think we are dealing with someone who has
> bought one and is now wondering why the hell they did it :)
FYI I dont own a Wii, a 360 or a PS3. Before spending money I try to educate myself as to what I'm purchasing. That way I dont have to resell it and come onto forums and say negatives things about it every post. :)
pb wrote:
> I'd be interested to see how you stream PC files to your TV
> without additional equipment.
I never said without additional equipment, you just dont need to spend money on a console to do it.
Personally since the moment graphics cards started coming with TV outs I've had my PC hooked up to the TV in some way. And yes at one point that did involve 40 metres of cables. :) You can do it wirelessly now of course with the purchase of a suitable box.
> 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.
You're not alone in the experience. Microsoft & co have been trying for a long time to set up the PC as a media hub and its never taken off in a big way. And frankly I doubt it ever will now.
> 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.
I think its all of a matter of perception. If you're tech savvy of course its no great thing. Yet I think the idea that you buy can a console and have it act as a media hub is far more appealing to masses than trying to convince them that its a good idea to get their PCs streaming content to the TV.
> I'd be interested to see how you stream PC files to your TV
> without additional equipment.
I never said without additional equipment, you just dont need to spend money on a console to do it.
Personally since the moment graphics cards started coming with TV outs I've had my PC hooked up to the TV in some way. And yes at one point that did involve 40 metres of cables. :) You can do it wirelessly now of course with the purchase of a suitable box.
> 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.
You're not alone in the experience. Microsoft & co have been trying for a long time to set up the PC as a media hub and its never taken off in a big way. And frankly I doubt it ever will now.
> 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.
I think its all of a matter of perception. If you're tech savvy of course its no great thing. Yet I think the idea that you buy can a console and have it act as a media hub is far more appealing to masses than trying to convince them that its a good idea to get their PCs streaming content to the TV.
To be honest PB i think we are dealing with someone who has bought one and is now wondering why the hell they did it :)
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