Wow, where've you been, Orb? It's been a full year since we heard anything from the once-adored media streaming outfit, and while it's been streaming out content to iPhones for quite some time, those relying on Macs to do it have been left in the damp night air. Until now, that is. Orb for Macintosh has finally hit the streets, bringing with it OS X 10.5 and 10.6 compatibility that enables any and all media from iTunes to be sent out over the internet and consumed on any outside device with access to the web. We're talking laptops, UMPCs, smartphones and even that ancient PC your grandmother still uses with Windows ME. There's no mention of any DRM restrictions, and it'll even allow you to stream live TV if you can manage to connect a tuner card to your Apple. Oh, and did we mention that Orb is completely free? Hit the download link below to get your weekend started off right.

Read - Download Orb
Read - Press release

We're hearing that the PC version of this here software still beats out the Mac counterpart, but equality is slowly but surely becoming a reality. The main new feature over on the OS X side, however, is a good one: the ability to stream iPhone and iTunes media directly to your TV via your FiOS TV DVR. Fire up an iTunes playlist and watch the fun roll by on your home TV, and there's even support for photo slideshows and the like. It's available to download right now from the read link, and those still skeptical can catch a demonstration vid just past the break.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

We knew good and well that the fine folks over at MediaMall were toiling away in an attempt to bring internet TV content from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, CBS, CNN and a host of other sources to Nintendo's white-hot Wii, but there's just nothing like hearing that intentions have become reality. Based on an email from MediaMall support to a particularly curious user, the "latest version of PlayOn includes a beta version of Wii functionality in it." Naturally, the company's doing its darnedest to keep this under wraps for now, but we're eager to get legions of Wii users testing it out and reporting back with performance evaluations. The note does mention that quality will be lower than on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 due to the inherit hardware limitations on Nintendo's baby, but hey, you knew that going in, right? Hop on past the break for the letter in its entirety, which includes instructions on getting this going on your console.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

So far, BD-Live seems like an answer to a question no one particularly cares about, but we're still holding out hope that the technology will be put to good use by someone. The devil's in the details (read - please make it pleasant to use), but putting Profile 2.0 into service as a streaming service like Videocity is promising sounds like a step in the right direction. Lest we forget Dreamer's efforts along the same lines, the company is showing off its Java-based BIDDLE API to developers in hopes of gaining some traction for "BluTube" type of applications. Yeah, we need another way of accessing YouTube about as much as we need more dust bunnies behind the TV, but we see way more potential on this front than, say, Yakuza Fighter redux. With wireless networking, more codecs and increased persistent storage showing up in Blu-ray decks, APIs like BIDDLE just might make the line between STBs and Blu-ray players really blurry -- and if it means we can eBay away some of those STBs, we're all for it.

HP's MediaSmart Server ex487 (1.5TB) and ex485 (750GB) both received copious amounts of praise when launched late last year, but considering just how many issues the original two had (the ex470 and ex475), it wouldn't take much to best 'em. Today, HP is issuing its second firmware update of the year for the series, but the first ever for the newest duo -- and make no mistake, it's a big one. The v2.5 update adds in loads of new features, far too many to cover in this space, in fact. If you're interested in hearing more, follow us past the break for all the details.

Another month, another upscaling technology. Tapping into NVIDIA's versatile CUDA architecture, ArcSoft has just announced its SimHD upscaling tech, which scales SD and DVD content to "near high-definition quality." The app integrates with the company's heralded TotalMedia Theater, though you'll need an NVIDIA GPU in order to really take advantage. We're told that it's compatible with millions of NVIDIA GPUs from the GeForce 8 Series onwards, including GeForce and Quadro lines. The pain for better looking pixels? $19.95 and a 5MB download, which may or may not end up costing more than the code itself if you use Time Warner Cable.

ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theatre is generally perceived as a fairly respectable piece of software for playing back Blu-ray Discs on BD-equipped PCs, and if you're looking for a great time to give it a go, now would be it. The company has just unleashed the third installment of said application, bringing with it BD support and compatibility with the undoubtedly awesome Xonar HDAV series audio card to bring true, lossless 7.1 channel output to the home. Other new features include enhanced video display results, robust Blu-ray interactive features support, DTS Surround Sensation Ultra PC capability, MKV, FLV and HE-AAC audio support and direct playback from camcorders. If interested, you can snag it right now via ArcSoft's website for $89.99 (full version) or $39.99 and up for the upgrade.

It's been nearly a year since DVD Jon made some noise about doubleTwist by promising to "liberate" iTunes purchases from their DRM, and while that's no longer particularly relevant in light of Apple's decision to go DRM-free, we're actually really digging this newly refocused public beta of the doubleTwist app, which promises to seamlessly manage all your devices from a single interface. Think of it as iTunes meets Windows 7 Device Stage with a dash of social network integration and you'll get it: you just tell DT where you want your media to go -- your phone, Facebook, your PSP -- and it'll handle all the encoding, conversion, and uploading steps for you. Sadly, the iPod, iPhone, Zune and Windows Mobile aren't supported yet, but the rest of the device list is pretty decent: it includes the BlackBerry Pearl, Storm, and Curve, the G1, Sony Ericsson Cybershot and Walkman phones, the Kindle, Nokia N and E-series phones, and most digital cameras and flash-based camcorders. Of course, iTunes video is still wrapped in DRM, so we'll see if DVD Jon has any tricks left up his sleeve to make it play nice with non-Apple devices, but for a first shot out of the gate it looks like extremely promising -- too bad it's Mac-only for now.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Read - doubleTwist website
Read - Supported device list

LG just gifted its multifaceted BD300 with HD Netflix support in December, and today it's blessing owners with one more goodie: YouTube access. The latest update brings the deck to version BD.8.16.537, and as mentioned, the most notable inclusion is YouTube streaming. Sure, it may not change your life, but it just might make your day. Give it a go and let us know how things look.

[Thanks, Kurt]

Sony already gifted its BDP-S350 Blu-ray player with BD-Live functionality last September, but apparently that firmware just isn't good enough any longer. The outfit has just released a newer version that elevates the machine from 010 to 015, and with the update comes "improved BD-Java compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs and improved BD-Live performance." The file weighs in at a rather hefty 49.42MB, so hit up the read link if you're interested in getting it started.

[Thanks, Brendan]

There stands a good chance that you've never heard of Zodiac Interactive nor Alticast, but if a Cisco / Scientific-Atlanta tru2way set-top box ends up in your abode in the near future, there's an even better chance that those two firms will play a crucial role. The duo has just announced plans to plant its embedded software within tru2way STBs, with the combined solution enabling cable providers to "deliver interactive services and applications including next-generation interactive user interfaces, guides, messaging and advanced VOD." Additionally, MSOs will be able to more easily offer subscribers "advanced services such as TV widgets," though there's currently no timetable for when a completed box will be made available. Did we mention that the widget race was officially on?

We've already seen boxee for Windows previewed, but if you've been toying with the idea of integrating it into your Vista Media Center setup, you'll probably want to give the read link a look. In short, the step-by-step guide walks you gently through the integration procedure in order to provide easy access to built-in Windows functions (recorded shows, for instance) as well as boxee's portal to the best content the web has to offer. Have a look at the results video just after the break.

DivX Connected v1.4 brought us the highly anticipated addition of Hulu support last September, and now v1.5 is bringing a few extras that are also quite delicious. The v1.5 Beta, which is out this very moment, adds in support for Matroska (MKV) and H.264, though you'll need the newly unleashed DivX 7 installed in order to experience the magic. The entire changelog is surprisingly lengthy, so we'll point you to the read link for those details as well as a download URL. A demonstration vid is just past the break.

[Thanks, Karolis]

If Panasonic's BD70V had a Blu-ray burner in it, this here software would be a lot less relevant. As it stands, however, you'll still need a middleman of some sort if you plan on getting that grainy VHS footage onto those newfangled BD-Rs. To that end, Honestech is providing a new version of its VHS to DVD Deluxe software (v4.0), which provides the means for transferring VHS, HDV, C-VHS and Beta (seriously!) content to DVDs or Blu-ray Discs. $79.99 gets you the program, the VIDBOX interface hardware, a USB cable and the ability to get your mother and her decade-old home movies off of your back.