Get the most from your media on the cheap

What you need:

Xbox 360 or PS3, PC, Broadband Internet, Home network 

Hulu.com account

Netflix account (optional)

Internet enabled device (optional - iPhone/iPod, Treo, or other 3G cell phone)

By the time we're done,  you will know how to get all your saved audio and video and pictures,  and the most popular Internet Audio and Video sources on any device you can think of - your TV, your phone, your computer - without wasting Gigabytes of space or hours of processor time converting formats (unless your on the iPhone) AND no Piracy!

So lets get started...

First you will need to install Orb - download and instructions at orb.com.  There's another free software out there that does almost the same thing, called TVersity - which is awesome in its own right thanks to it's ability to convert different video formats to match the playing device,  but it doesn't include an externally hosted website to access your media server :(.  But,  if you don't have a Media Center PC and are running an older version of the XBox 360 (XBMC not tested here) - or have a lot of different or Xbox-unsupported video formats, then TVersity might be a good choice for you. 

Orb makes it possible to share all your local media,  and almost all streaming media your PC can access available via your network - and if you have broadband then you can can get to your network from any Internet enabled device (yes even the iPhone)

Orb is really very awesome...this amazing free software and frees you from the chains of broadcast radio and TV programming and unlocks your media from the restrictions of file size and supported formats (almost). The only limit is the hardware on your PC (and you only need special equipment to stream and record live Radio and TV)

Once Orb is installed and configured,  anything on Orb is available from your Xbox! Audio, Video,  Pictures, the works! And it does it better than Media Center ever did. And now with the Xbox NXE update from November 19,  you don't even need MediaCenter running on your PC in order to access Orb. Even more, Orb lets you add Internet stream sources and record them. - This is important because.... 

If you have Sirius or XM Satellite radio,  uSirius (and uXM) from millardsoftware.com let you setup Internet streams for every satellite radio channel your subscription includes.  These streams can be added to Orb,  and then recorded and/or broadcast to any device - Live stream and recordings!

Having trouble justifying that cell phone upgrade to unlimited data and media-enabled phone?  With uSirius and Orb you can turn that cell phone into the equivalent of a $300 Sirius portable radio for free!

Sharing all your media to any network connected device is great,  but what about all that content only available from streaming sites like youtube,  or Hulu,  or Movies from Netflix?

November 19 Microsoft is releasing an update for Xbox 360 that allows Live Gold subscribers to access their Netflix Instant Queue right from the Xbox- great! you say,  but what if you don't want to shell out $50 per year just to watch Netflix?  $99 for a Roku player just to watch Netflix Instant movies?  Nope.

How about $30?  Once.  And it puts not just netflix on the Xbox AND Playstation 3.  PlayOn  from MediaMall (themediamall.com/playon)  may cost $30,  but it allows you unfettered access to not only your Netflix Instant Queue (free with the 1 DVD at a time subscription, or $5/month),  it also lets you browse the full catalog at Hulu, YouTube,  CBS,  ESPN, and more!   So for $30 you can enjoy all the latest programming when you want with all the benefits but none of the cost or hassle of traditional DVR (Nothing gets deleted or recorded-over AND the cable company doesn't get to charge you $$$ monthly to have DVR,  and more $$$ to use it) 

  PlayOn and Orb require you to have a PC on the network to run the programs in order to provide Media to other devices (like a relay) but for the most part these apps can run silently in the background,  rarely are they even noticeable.  And when they are in use,  your somewhere else watching or listening anyway! All the internet media is buffered on your PC - so on a busy night there could be pauses but in the end,  you can watch as much as you want as often as you want and never lose a MB of Hard disk space no matter what system you are using.

In fact,  thanks to Orb and Playon, you are getting more value from that PC that otherwise would be sitting idle for hours a day instead of spending more $$$ on media services and dedicated devices that only do one thing or provide you with 1 service - offered of course by the manufacturer!

You don't have to be rich to waste all your time watching movies on your phone or listen to satellite radio all day from anywhere.

In times like these, value solutions are what we need to live and laugh on a budget.  So get that PC up and running  and start getting the most entertainment on the go with Orb, uSirius,  and Playon.

These programs also let you  "share"  your media and services with your friends.  If your interested,  or have your own system setup,  and want to share,  send me a note :)