BitTorrent (company)
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| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet Software & Services |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Eric Klinker , CEO Ashwin Navin Bram Cohen |
| Products | Consumer Freeware Content Delivery Embedded Software |
| Employees | 60 (2011) |
| Website | BitTorrent.com |
BitTorrent, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a privately held American company that is responsible for the ongoing development of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol, as well as the ongoing development of µTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline, two clients for that protocol.
Today, files transferred using the BitTorrent protocol constitute a significant slice of all Internet traffic. The company was founded on September 22, 2004 by Bram Cohen and Ashwin Navin.
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[edit] Products
[edit] BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer program developed by Bram Cohen and BitTorrent, Inc. used for uploading and downloading files via the BitTorrent protocol. BitTorrent was the first client written for the protocol. It is often nicknamed Mainline by developers denoting its official origins. Since version 6.0 the BitTorrent client has been a rebranded version of µTorrent. As a result, it is no longer open source and is currently available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
[edit] μTorrent
µTorrent (or uTorrent; commonly abbreviated as "µT" or "uT") is a freeware, closed source BitTorrent client owned by BitTorrent, Inc. It is the most widely used BitTorrent client outside China.
It is available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A µTorrent Server is available for Linux. All versions are written in C++.[1]
On December 7, 2006, µTorrent was purchased by BitTorrent, Inc., as it was announced on their official forum.[2]
[edit] BitTorrent/μTorrent Plus
Plus versions of BitTorrent and μTorrent are premium versions of the software with additional features that are downloaded and installed when the user upgrades for $24.95 USD.[3] Pre-sales for Plus were announced November 29, 2011 and the upgrade became available December 8, 2011.[4]
When a user upgrades to the Plus version of BitTorrent or μTorrent they enable the following features:[5]
- Anti-virus protection for acquired .torrent files
- Integrated HD media player[6]
- Transcoding capability with media codecs
- Remote access to files in the client's library
[edit] BitTorrent Live (beta)
Currently in beta,[7] BitTorrent Live was first announced in September 2011, and was first publicly tested on October 14, 2011.[8] The platform is currently used to showcase live streaming events of musical acts and DJs.[9]
[edit]
Initially released as an alpha service in the μTorrent client to a closed group of Windows users, Share, powered by BitTorrent, was opened to the public on January 5, 2012.[10] Positioned as a user-friendly desktop application, Share uses the BitTorrent protocol to enable users to share personal photos, files and videos in private groups. From the official website, users are offered a Windows standalone client, while Mac users receive a Share-enabled build of μTorrent.[11]
[edit] Other products and services
BitTorrent, Inc. also offers BitTorrent DNA (Delivery Network Accelerator),[12] a free content delivery service based on the BitTorrent protocol that allows content providers to distribute their content using the bandwidth of their users.
[edit] Licensing
Additionally, BitTorrent Inc. licenses its technology and brands to corporate customers. The BitTorrent Software Development Kit (SDK) for Devices enables partners to integrate BitTorrent technology into their hardware products.[13]
[edit] Awards & recognitions
In April 2006, BitTorrent was selected as 2006 Red Herring 100 North America Finalist.[14]
In June 2007, the company received CNET’s 2007 Webware 100 Award.[15]
In June 2007, BitTorrent was the recipient of 2007 DCIA Innovator’s Award.[16]
In November 2007, BitTorrent received Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Award.[17]
In May 2010, BitTorrent was recognized as one of the “2010 Hottest San Francisco Companies” by Lead411.[18]
[edit] Standards work
BitTorrent Inc. also promotes development of the BitTorrent protocol through R&D and open specifications. Open source contributions are linked from http://www.bittorrent.com/opensource and protocol development discussions are hosted on http://www.bittorrent.org. BitTorrent Inc. also contributes through more broadly focused standards bodies like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) at the LEDBAT working group http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/ledbat-charter.html
[edit] Partners
According to the company's website, BitTorrent Inc. has announced partnerships with many companies, including, for venture capital, Accel Partners and DCM, technology partners ESA Flash Components, NTL:Telewest, Opera Software, and device partners Buffalo Technology, D-Link, I-O Data, Marvell Semiconductors, Netgear, Planex Communications Inc., and QNAP Systems Inc.[19][20]
[edit] See also
- μTorrent, a freeware closed source BitTorrent client by BitTorrent, Inc.
- BitTorrent
- BitTorrent client
- BitTorrent DNA
[edit] References
- ^ "FAQ: How can µTorrent be so small and so fast?". BitTorrent, Inc.. http://www.utorrent.com/faq/misc#faq14. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ "BitTorrent Inc Buys uTorrent". TorrentFreak. 2006-12-07. http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-inc-buys-%C2%B5torrent/. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ http://blog.bittorrent.com/2011/12/08/utorrent-plus-utorrent-3-1-free-and-bittorrent-plus/
- ^ http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-plus-goes-on-pre-sale-for-2495-111129/
- ^ http://www.bittorrent.com/bittorrent-plus
- ^ http://www.bittorrent.com/bittorrent-plus/features/#media_player
- ^ http://live.bittorrent.com
- ^ http://blog.bittorrent.com/2011/10/13/youre-invited-to-an-rd-live-streaming-test-this-friday/
- ^ http://blog.bittorrent.com/2012/01/04/join-us-in-the-bittorrent-live-studio-with-dj-dragon-fly-and-vj-kai/
- ^ http://gigaom.com/2012/01/05/bittorrent-share-app/
- ^ http://www.getshareapp.com
- ^ BitTorrent DNA
- ^ BitTorrent » SDK for Devices
- ^ Red Herring Releases Short-List of Finalists for the "Red Herring 100 North America" Awards
- ^ BitTorrent
- ^ "BitTorrent SDK for Next-Gen Devices". DCI 18 (3): –. June 25 2007. http://www.dcia.info/news/newsletter_2007-06-25.htm.
- ^ Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen (November 2007). "The 2007 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards Winners". Streaming Media magazine: –. http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=64999.
- ^ Lead411 launches "Hottest Companies in San Francisco" awards
- ^ Partners. Bittorrent Inc.
- ^ BitTorrent Inc. Launches the BitTorrent Entertainment Network. Press release. BitTorrent Inc. February 26, 2007.
[edit] External links
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