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uTorrent Plus Leaves Beta – Features Antivirus, Remote Transfer, and More

Jared Moya — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:56:44 +0000

New subscription-only version of the popular BitTorrent client opens to the public; for $24.99 per year subscribers get additional features like file conversion, a built-in HD media player, integrated antivirus scanner, and remote file transfer.

This past October ago I mentioned how uTorrent was taking the BitTorrent client experience to the next level by testing out a new subscription-only premium version called uTorrent Plus. For $24.95 per year subscribers get access to additional features and functions that provide an enhanced user experience. Today BitTorrent Inc. announced that uTorrent Plus is leaving the beta testing phase and opening to the public. "µTorrent Plus is a notable step in our strategy to make it easy for people to shift their personal media from their PC and play it on mobile devices, TVs, connected devices and more," said Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist at BitTorrent. "Whether it's personal content sent by a friend or indie content found on the Internet, people are too often frustrated by file formats that aren't supported by their favored device." The four main new features include:

File conversion: Transcode downloaded files right within the µTorrent Plus software. Initial supported codecs include: MPEG-4, H.264, Theora, and VP8 video codecs; MP3, AAC and AC-3 audio codecs. With these codecs, µTorrent Plus enable users to convert files and shift them easily to Apple, Android, Xbox360 and Playstation 3 devices.
Antivirus: Powered by BitDefender, the built-in antivirus automatically scans downloaded files for hidden viruses and malware and handles any detected infections.
Integrated HD media player: Download a file and play it immediately in standard definition or high-definition, within the µTorrent software.
Remote downloading: µTorrent Plus users will unlock a new feature in the popular µTorrent Remote Web service. In addition to nearly full remote control of their home torrent client through any supported browser, µTorrent Plus users will also have the ability to download files from their home torrent library to the remote computer.

I switched over from Azureus (Vuze) to uTorrent a long time ago because I preffered a low memory footprint to fancy features and options. I like my BitTorrent clients simple, fast, and easy to use. Having said that though, the new functions offered in uTorrent Plus are tantalziing enough to consider upgrading.

One of the problems, for example, with public tracker sites has, and always will be, viruses and other malware. UTorrent Plus helps to remedy that problem. Also, with the array of protable devices I have, and I'm sure I'm not alone, what could be more conveneient than being able to download, convert, and then push content to whichever device you choose? "Our goal was to enhance µTorrent to be a powerful tool that lets you free your personal content from the PC," said Jordy Berson, director of product management for µTorrent. "Plus adds key features needed to accomplish this, and then adds security to keep you safer." The BitTorrent Mainline client also has a Plus version now available for those interested in upgrading. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com | @jaredmoya

uTorrent App Offers Free Khan Academy Education Videos

Jared Moya — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:45:00 +0000

BitTorrent Inc. and Khan Academy team up to release a new video catalogue app that offers over 2,000 educational videos to the BitTorrent community.

Ever since BitTorrent Inc. launched the App Studio it's been looking for ways to collaborate with artists and content creators to use it as distribution tool that reaches the hundreds of millions of users around the globe. It's in this spirit that it's teamed up with Khan Academy to create a new video catalogue app that offers over 2,000 award-winning educational videos. "BitTorrent is a great platform to help us fulfill our mission of providing world-class education to anyone, anywhere," said Salman Khan, founder and executive director at the Khan Academy. "BitTorrent offers a unique opportunity to video creators and publishers. Their technology allows users to download large video files quickly, plus it requires no costly hosting or infrastructure on our end - an important factor for a non-profit." Some of the classes include:

Introduction to Evolution and Natural Selection
Introduction to the Atom
Algebra: Solving Inequalities
Scale of the Galaxy
History of the French Revolution

The Khan Academy app is available for both the BitTorrent mainline and uTorrent clients. "We're honored to support the Khan Academy's vision of bringing knowledge and education to the world," said Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist at BitTorrent. "The Khan Academy app is a perfect example of why we created our App Studio platform: to help content creators connect with our global user base. In this instance we also enjoy the benefit of empowering a partner to provide tens of millions of people with free access to world-class educational content. This is a truly worthy cause. We look forward to continuing our work with the Khan Academy and other socially-conscious content creators as we foster new content distribution models." Other popular apps include the VLC media player and TorrentCasts apps. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com

Canadian Music Industry Sues isoHunt – Last Year?!

Jared Moya — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:38:32 +0000

Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) quietly sued BitTorrent tracker site isoHunt nearly a month before the controversial copyright reform bill (Bill C-32) was proposed, proving that copyright holders do have the proper tools necessary to fight online infringement.

With Canadian legislators still mulling a new copyright reform bill (Bill C-32) it should come as know surprise that the current system, despite copyright holder claims to the contrary, is working just fine. We know this because the Canadian Recording Industry Association quietly sued BitTorrent tracker site isoHunt last year nearly a full month before the bill was even submitted. "Legal clarity is needed to send a signal that downloading music from the Internet without payment is not allowed," the CRIA said in a statement last June. "Stronger rules are also needed to rein in Canadian-based peer-to-peer websites which, according to IFPI, have become 'a major source of the world’s piracy problem'." Yet, a month before it made this statement the "legal clarity" it was looking for already existed. The charges it was able to make in court against isoHunt prove so. "The isoHunt Websites have been designed and are operated by the defendants with the sole purpose of profiting from rampant copyright infringement which defendants actively encourage, promote, authorize, induce, aid, abet, materially contribute to and commercially profit from," reads the CRIA's complaint. "The defendants and users of the isoHunt Websites act together, in and as part of a file-sharing community, to reproduce and distribute the Plaintiffs' sound recordings and other copyright content." Could the charges be any less ambiguous? isoHunt lost a similar battle in the US back in 2009 when US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson found that isoHunt and owner, operator Gary Fung had infringed copyright, and intentionally encouraged piracy, stating that the “evidence of defendants’ intent to induce infringement is overwhelming and beyond reasonable dispute.” The result of that trial was a permanent injunction that ordered it to remove copyrighted material. It's currently appealing that decision. What's ironic about the CRIA suit however, is that it's essentially a countersuit to an earlier claim filed by isoHunt. Back in September of 2008 isoHunt decided to pre-empt copyright infringement litigation threatened by the CRIA by suing them (Petition to the Court) so that the courts could clarify its legal rights. In his petition Fung pointed out that Google works just as isoHunt does, yet it indexes ACTUAL CONTENT! With isoHunt users can only search through .torrent (tracker) files whereas with Google you can search through music, movies, images, and more. In many cases they can be downloaded with a simple right-click of the mouse. Moreover, the whole affair is confusing because on the one hand the CRIA says that Canadian law is ill-suited to deal with BitTorrent tracker sites like isoHunt, and yet it managed to file a lawsuit under preexisting laws that allowed it to do just that. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com _____ Iso Hunt Lawsuit

Ferret out fake BitTorrent trackers with Fake Finder

Jared Moya — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:33:48 +0000

Tired of downloading a file on Torrentspy or other public BitTorrent tracker sites only to have it stop at 99% completed? Well, then Fenopy’s Fake Finder is the site for you.

For those that don’t like the hassle of private BitTorrent tracker sites, TorrentSpy, isoHunt, The Pirate Bay, BTJunkie, and Mininova are then no doubt some of your “go-to” sites when comes to finding content to download.

Well, part of the problem with this however, is that not only does your IP address become exposed for the world to see but, you also become susceptible to being tricked into downloading a fake file.

First made popular on KaZaA years ago, the MPAA and the RIAA have teams of people whose sole job is to fill the otherwise healthy content available with fake files and bogus material in an attempt to frustrate file-sharers into submission.

I have to admit it did work well on KaZaA, as it just became another reason why it was time to switch to another P2P platform. After downloading 2 or 3 songs filled with a shrieks and hisses, it was apparent to everyone that fake files were there to stay.

Public BitTorrent tracker sites are no exception to the long arm of copyright sheriffs the world over.

Their efforts have become a common hassle for users who sometimes spend all day trying to get the latest CAM or Screener only to watch helplessly as the download stops permanently at 99% completed.

You gotta love the fact that they do their best to make life hard for you, after all, 99% is the maximum amount of “ha ha” factor allowable.

Now I still don’t understand why people continue to use public BitTorent tracker sites but, in any event, there’s a new site called Fake Finder that allows you to search query a BitTorrent tracker to see if it has already been exposed as a fake.

As you can see below, it’s simple and easy to use. Just “cut and paste” the tracker you wish to verify and then select the “Find Them” tab to see if it’s been reported to be a fake or not.

How often the database is updated or who does the updating isn’t clear from the info available on their site but, it’s still a helpful way of ferreting out the debris and clutter from otherwise good and honest hardworking BitTorrent trackers out there.

For those of you haven’t been able to join a private BitTorrent tracker site for whatever reason, there’s a cool program called Tracker Checker that can be configured to keep you informed of when particular sites are open for registration.

CHECK OUT FENOPY’S FAKE FINDER
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/Ferret_out_fake_BitTorrent_trackers_with_Fake_Finder’;

SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”

BitTorrent Inc. wants to provide a “better experience than piracy”

Jared Moya — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:10:15 +0000

Ashwin Navin recently discussed his expectations for the upcoming BitTorrent online video download store and its partnering with Netgear Inc to stream content from the PC to the TV.

In a recent interview on the program MarketWatch, Ashwin Navin, BitTorrent Inc. CEO and co-founder, discussed the future of the company and how he hopes to compete against the rampant video piracy that the program is so famous for having unleashed.

Next month BitTorrent Inc. plans to roll out its new online video download service, offering some 10,000 plus titles from the likes of Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Palm Pictures, Kadokawa Pictures USA, the UK’s BBC, and others.

What will make the service stand apart from other fledgling video distribution models is that it wants to make it something that consumers will find easy to use and a “better experience than piracy.”

As he noted:

[We're]…Providing value to our members, not competing with them. We’re hoping that this is a better experience than piracy and If were no competing effectively with piracy we’re not going to win.

The biggest reason why many online video distribution stores have failed I think is that they never really fully grasp what the consumers is looking for in the experience. If he is to be dissuaded from piracy, a service must compete on a variety levels which include price, speed, and selection.

If a user is accustomed to obtaining video content for free and with relative ease and quickness then a service had better take heed of this if it is ever to have any hope for success.

Judging from this interview it seems that Mr. Navin has grasped this fact in a way that has never been seen before and has great potential to “convert users into legal and paying customers.”

BitTorrent Inc. has also partnered with Netgear Inc. in the release of Netgear’s new Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) media receiver device.

The two have formed a collaboration to deliver HD videos, music, Internet radio and digital photos from your home PCs and storage devices to your HDTV.

The receiver automatically locates, organizes and plays HD movies, TV shows, music, and pictures. It wail also stream internet-based video, news feeds, weather reports, or radio programs.

But, what Navin importantly understands and discusses in the interview is that the problem many companies have had with bridging the gap between the PC and the TV is that many times companies try to get “…users to do something new, is complicated, and has questionable value.”

BitTorrent Inc. wants to work “with as many hardware platforms as they possibly can” to make this dream a reality, all the while noting the shortcomings in Apple’s iPod and Microsoft’s Zune in that users detest “proprietary locked in services.” This is the key.

Navin has previously referred to to iTunes DRM policy as “a time bomb waiting to happen,” and said the same may be true for Microsoft’s policy with Zune if the device becomes more popular.

With over 135 million people having downloaded the BitTorrent client server, and the countless millions of others who are using a different client server like Azureus or uTorrent, the prospective market for a legitimate online video download service is quite promising.

With an estimated 10,000 titles to be offered at its launch sometime next month, the success of its plan will will be evident soon enough.

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/BitTorrent_Inc_wants_to_provide_a_better_experience_than_piracy’;

SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”