Streaming video on your PDA might not be the first thing one thinks of when summing up usefull functions on a PDA. Orb however, proves to offer more than capable software to stream audio or video from your home PC to your HTC Wizard, even over GPRS.

The software that Orb provides needs to be installed on your networked home PC (Win2000, XP or Media Center), no special software is needed on your HTC Wizard. You simply go to www.orb.com, download the software and sign up for a free account. Then you install the Orb software on your desktop PC, enter your account information and the location of your media in the configuration and you are ready to go.

Your media is now available to any networked device by logging into your account on http://my.orb.com. When you login, the available upstream bandwidth from your home PC to the Internet and the available downstream bandwidth from the internet to, for example, your HTC Wizard will be measured. You will then be redirected tou your personal Orb page, containing links to the different types of media that you made available.

The Orb software on your home PC will encode audio and video before it starts the stream to Orb. This ensures that the stream does not use a bit rate higher than the bandwidth you have available. I tried this with audio as well as video, and I must admit I was amazed by the quality. And what’s best, it’s all free!

Those of you owning a PC with Windows Media Center and a TV-tuner card can even stream live TV to whichever networked device they like. The Orb software will automatically detect the channels you have set up, and will make them available just like any other type of media. Even better, it shows you the listings for the days to come, so you can program your Media Center to record your favorite shows from any place with IP connectivity.