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Orb Products Bring Netflix, Pandora, Amazon, Hulu, etc. to Oppo
I've done some experimentation with this (as part of Oppo Beta Testing) and it appears to work, albeit in a "new product" sort of way.
You buy the "Orb BR" disc for about $25. It includes a USB memory stick that you insert and set up as your Persistent Storage (instead of using the internal Persistent Storage in the Oppo).
Meanwhile, on a Mac or Windows PC you download the free "Orb Caster" application. Orb Caster actually contains the smarts for connecting to the streaming services, as well as providing the ability to access media files from your computer. NOTE: This is a processor heavy application, so be sure to check the minimum speed specs to see if your computer will suffice.
The third piece is user control. This is accomplished either with a "Mini Controller" app on your computer (included with the Orb Caster download), or a free iOS app "Orb Controller". I believe they also have an Android version but I've not played with that.
You fire up Orb Caster on your computer, and make sure it can receive incoming network connections. Then you play the Orb BR disc on your Oppo. Then you fire up your controller app -- whichever one you want to use. NOTE: All three pieces have to be running on the same, local network so they can find each other.
For password services like Netflix, you tell the controller your account email and password and it sends over and saves those in Orb Caster. At that point you can view your Instant Queue, or do Searches. When you select a program to play, Orb Caster establishes the incoming stream and re-streams that to Orb BR on your Oppo.
For media files, you tell Orb Caster which sets of files to index, and they then become available in the controller app. (Orb Caster can also act as a DLNA server, presenting your media files to the DLNA file playing UI in the Oppo itself.)
There are definitely still some strangenesses in all this, and I don't think the playback quality is quite up to native apps yet (given the same network speed in both cases). But as an alternative to no access at all, it's pretty cool!
Definitely something for you early adopters out there to consider. Folks who will only tolerate a bullet-proof streaming solution should probably wait until more reports come in from folks who've tried it.
NOTE 1: The latest version of Orb BR and Orb Caster supports the Oppo BDP-80, BDP-83, BDP-93 and BDP-95. The Orb folks still need to update all the pages on their web site to properly reflect this. Orb BR auto-updates when it launches. The necessary version of Orb Caster is the one available from the public download link on the Orb web site.
NOTE 2: For the BDP-93 and BDP-95, the native apps for Netflix and Pandora are preferable. But Hulu and Amazon access should still be interesting.
--Bob
Interesting concept....I may try it out.
Orb Products Bring Netflix, Pandora, Amazon, Hulu, etc. to Oppo
I've done some experimentation with this (as part of Oppo Beta Testing) and it appears to work, albeit in a "new product" sort of way.
You buy the "Orb BR" disc for about $25. It includes a USB memory stick that you insert and set up as your Persistent Storage (instead of using the internal Persistent Storage in the Oppo).
Meanwhile, on a Mac or Windows PC you download the free "Orb Caster" application. Orb Caster actually contains the smarts for connecting to the streaming services, as well as providing the ability to access media files from your computer. NOTE: This is a processor heavy application, so be sure to check the minimum speed specs to see if your computer will suffice.
The third piece is user control. This is accomplished either with a "Mini Controller" app on your computer (included with the Orb Caster download), or a free iOS app "Orb Controller". I believe they also have an Android version but I've not played with that.
You fire up Orb Caster on your computer, and make sure it can receive incoming network connections. Then you play the Orb BR disc on your Oppo. Then you fire up your controller app -- whichever one you want to use. NOTE: All three pieces have to be running on the same, local network so they can find each other.
For password services like Netflix, you tell the controller your account email and password and it sends over and saves those in Orb Caster. At that point you can view your Instant Queue, or do Searches. When you select a program to play, Orb Caster establishes the incoming stream and re-streams that to Orb BR on your Oppo.
For media files, you tell Orb Caster which sets of files to index, and they then become available in the controller app. (Orb Caster can also act as a DLNA server, presenting your media files to the DLNA file playing UI in the Oppo itself.)
There are definitely still some strangenesses in all this, and I don't think the playback quality is quite up to native apps yet (given the same network speed in both cases). But as an alternative to no access at all, it's pretty cool!
Definitely something for you early adopters out there to consider. Folks who will only tolerate a bullet-proof streaming solution should probably wait until more reports come in from folks who've tried it.
NOTE 1: The latest version of Orb BR and Orb Caster supports the Oppo BDP-80, BDP-83, BDP-93 and BDP-95. The Orb folks still need to update all the pages on their web site to properly reflect this. Orb BR auto-updates when it launches. The necessary version of Orb Caster is the one available from the public download link on the Orb web site.
NOTE 2: For the BDP-93 and BDP-95, the native apps for Netflix and Pandora are preferable. But Hulu and Amazon access should still be interesting.
--Bob
Interesting concept....I may try it out.
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