BitTorrent declares war on Dropbox, sharing services
BitTorrent Inc. has revealed a personal cloud storage system to rival sharing services like Dropbox, Insync and Google Docs.
The new application is simply called Share, and allows users access to cloud storage in order to save and exchange personal files.
Powered by BitTorrent, Share is a free service that makes it possible to send video, images and other file types to other users without size limits. The application aims to make the process of sharing large files easier -- without being required to learn how to use BitTorrent software.
(Source: ZDNet)
For a novice, torrent technology can be a daunting prospect. It is likely to appeal to those who wish to share files within select groups rather than making them available to anyone with a BitTorrent client, and also do not have the time to create .torrent files and release them.
Share will eventually be integrated into BitTorrent’s client uTorrent, adding more features to the software. However, the trade-off requires increasing the weight of the popular lightweight client.
With the tagline "No more storage limits. No more fees" the service joins the storage war, and is reminiscent of other storage lockers offering cheeky slogans to entice users. Instead of relying on witty taglines, BitTorrent chooses to prod at the sore spot many users complain of -- additional storage fees.
The torrent service is promoting the application by emphasizing account holders can transfer 'oversized' files without incurring fees. These could include high-resolution photo collections and HD movies. Files are stored within the cloud so users aren't required to synchronize themselves and are able to complete transfers without full Internet access for the duration of the exchange.
Users can have an unlimited amount of contacts to transfer files to, and 'group share' features mean you can maintain control over who has access to what files in your account. Contacts are able to comment on files in the same way that torrent websites implement user-generated validity checks on fake or valid files shared online.
BitTorrent Strategist Shahi Ghanem told Gigaom that the storage service is powered by Amazon's EC2 and S3 cloud-based storage servers, so bandwidth shouldn't be a concern.
The torrent service also has future plans to build its own P2P-powered personal cloud storage system. Although the service isn't yet functional, the system in development works on the premise of users sharing hard drive space in return for free storage facilities.
For those of us who grew up with file-sharing services, the idea of a free, limitless cloud storage service is enticing.
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