I have no idea for how long Microsoft is trialing it's "Microsoft Mobile Media" service already, the FAQ talks about "Dogfood 1" and "Dogfood 2" (Microsoft's term for internal Betas), but it looks like Microsoft is finally working on a kind of "place-shift" product as well - quite similar to Orb. Mobile Media is described to "allow you to quickly and easily access your personal content - pictures, music, and videos - on your personal computer from your mobile phone [At the moment, Windows Mobile 5 and 6 Standard and Professional smartphones are supported]. You can also automatically send pictures that you take with your phone to your PC. To use Mobile Media, you'll need to download and install client applications on both your PC and Mobile phone."

Unlike software solutions like Orb, or hardware solutions like the Slingbox, Microsoft Mobile Media isn't yet able to stream live TV nor is it able to work with Microsoft's very own DVR-MS files (as used for Windows Media Center) but currently, only DRM free videos, photos and music is supported and streamed from a home PC to the smartphone.

At the moment, the registration only accepts U.S. mobile phone numbers for registration and as I initially said, it's unclear yet if it is a public Beta or for Microsoft employees only.

Cheers ~ Arne