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Orb (software)

software for remotely accessing personal digital media files

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 7, 2025
Entity authorityQ3355177
Source-derived summary

Orb was a freeware streaming software that enabled users to remotely access all their personal digital media files including pictures, music, podcasts, videos and television. It could be used from any Internet-enabled device, including laptops, pocket PC, smartphones, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii video game consoles.

In 2013, Orb Networks, Inc. announced that they were acquired by a strategic partner and would be shutting down operations. Also in 2013, Co-founder Luc Julia indicated that Orb Networks' technology had been acquired by Qualcomm, but no accompanying press release had been issued.

Orb's website (accessed May, 2014) announced: "...about a year ago Orb's team and technology were acquired by Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc." and "Orb Networks will no longer be offering any Orb software downloads or support for our web based products such as OrbLive and Mycast." The statement invited people to "check out Qualcomm's AllPlay media platform" but did not specify how Orb software may have been utilized.

What it did

Orb was available for Intel Macintosh, Windows or Media Center PCs. Users create an online account to remotely access their computer.

Access to videos, audio, images

All the music, pictures and video files stored on a home computer are made available for streaming, provided that the computer is connected to the Internet. The media files are transcoded and streamed directly from that PC, or available for download with the use of a file explorer plug-in.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Orb (software)” as software for remotely accessing personal digital media files. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where software, remotely and accessing can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as software for remotely accessing personal digital media files. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 7, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3355177. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013 and 2014.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Orb (software)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Orb (software) primary sources, Orb (software) archive and software research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Orb (software)”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Orb (software)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.