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Vuze allows remote playback support to Apple devices
Update: Original version of this post contained some accidental misinformation. Errors have been corrected.Azureus was my Bittorrent client of choice back in the day -- it used to be open source and easy to use and install, and served up any torrents you'd like. Eventually, however, the app was turned into Vuze, got put under a much more restrictive license and added a bunch of extra content bloat, and I abandoned it in favor of the much simpler µTorrent (unfortunately, it's not open source either, but you can't win them all). Now, however, it sounds like Vuze is trying to make things a little easier on their customers -- the restrictions are still there, but you can now watch any or all of their content on any or all of your devices, including the iPhone and iPod touch, the Apple TV, and even consoles like the PS3 and the Xbox 360.It's only slightly easier -- everything still has to be downloaded under the Vuze umbrella, but with just an option, you can drag and drop into iTunes or onto any of your other devices and then sync things out from there. If you do choose to access content through their application, at least you'll be able to bring what you download out onto the other devices you own.You can download Vuze over on their site. Downloading content from their network can be done with just the app, though using their comments and Friends system will require a free onsite registration. The device integration currently only works in OS 10.5, though they're working hard to make it possible in 10.4 as well.
Vuze brings online video to game consoles, portable media players
Sheesh -- this is dangerously close to getting out of hand. We've got Hulu, boxee, ZeeVee and Vuze (amongst others) all vying for your attention in the wide world of broadband video, but it's the latter dishing out a potent new offering with its latest version. Today, Vuze has announced a new iteration of its online video portal application that integrates playback with iPhone, iPod, AppleTV, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 devices. So far as we can tell, no other competitor offers that much integration (read: direct Mac / PC-to-device transfers) across so many products. Of course, none of this matters if you aren't a fan of Vuze itself, but you can surf on over to download it (gratis, naturally) in order to test the waters.
Running a bittorrent client from the iPhone
A few days ago, TorrentFreak speculated about how someone might create a bittorrent client for the iPhone. While it seems technically possible (except for that nagging "no SDK" problem, which makes it hard to get code running on there), you might question why it needs to be done - since there are plenty of good legal torrents out there, it just seems easier to get them on your Mac first, and then sync them to your iPhone. Still, I'm sure there are quite a few people out there who want to do torrenting on the fly, so maybe it'll be done eventually.In the meantime, the P2P blog has a neat tip that lets you almost get bittorrent on your iPhone. Almost every bittorrent client (including Azureus, which is what I use on my Mac) can establish a remote connection via a browser, which the iPhone has. Using a plugin for Azureus (here's one that P2P recommends, and here's another that they say might work better with the iPhone), you can start and stop downloads, and even queue up local torrents. At this point, the plugin's search function doesn't work (so you must have the torrent sitting on your local box in the first place), but in the future, you'll be able to find and queue a torrent on your iPhone, and then have it ready to go when you get home.
Xtorrent 1.0 v40 released with per-torrent bandwidth throttling, list of big features to come
It isn't often that developers unveil their cards, but when they do, their user's ears typically perk up. Such is the case with Dave Watanabe's release of Xtorrent 1.0 v40 in which he announced two big new features now, and a few juicy ones coming down the road. As of this new version, Xtorrent Pro (the registered version) offers per-torrent bandwidth limits and support for the Azureus/utorrent compatible peer exchange, which should apparently help increase some transfer speeds.Using his crystal ball, however, Watanabe also announced three major features we can strike off the request list: selective file downloading, encryption, and torrentcast auto-downloading (though I should point out that Xtorrent can already subscribe to RSS feeds of torrents - it just doesn't auto-snag 'em yet). Dave announced that these features are "absolutely" planned for a future release (or spread out across more than one), though we'll all just have to sit tight as these things naturally fall under the tried and true "they'll be done when they're done" policy.
BBC teams up with Azureus for Zudeo distribution
A fancy new distribution platform is only as good as its content, and while we knew Azureus had the former down pat with Zudeo's snappy HD distribution techniques, we weren't quite sure what they had up their sleeve for the latter part of the equation. Well, good news: BBC just signed up for Zudeo, and will be making "hundreds of episodes" available on the fledgling download service. "Programmes" will include Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and The League of Gentleman, with classics such as Fawlty Towers available as well. There will be DRM slapped on top of the shows, which will be distributed in a "high-quality" form, and there's no word yet exactly how much Zudeo will be charging for these downloads, but if they can break through that $1.99 barrier we're seeing good things in Zudeo's future -- especially with more content deals on the way, which Azureus is planning to announce in January.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
BBC to go peer-to-peer in HD with Azureus
The Beeb is reporting that hundreds of episodes of "programmes" will be released for download via the Zudeo service, based on P2P client Azureus. The videos will be available in HD and will be DRM'ed, exact rights and pricing to be announced. This is certainly big news for fans of Brit TV who don't have... you know... cable.Seriously, though, HD via P2P is a big deal, especially from such an august content horde as the BBC. The presence of a Mac client (Azureus is Java-based) is also good news, although it remains to be seen if the actual videos will play for us. Will P2P challenge the video dominance of the iTunes Music Store?[via Digg]
Azureus pushes HD video sharing via BitTorrent
You're probably familiar with Azureus because of its popular BitTorrent client, now they're rolling that into a digital media platform called Zudeo. As Wired points out, like Youtube, Zudeo aims to let content providers publish and showcase material easily and freely. Unlike Youtube, Zudeo is built to support high definition video and long form content. According to the CEO, it has signed deals with 12 television film and media companies, with content, pricing and DRM details forthcoming in the next couple of weeks. The site is active today, and you can already find and download some of Engadget HD's favorite content like mariposaHD and Elephant's Dream. We tested it out and had no problems with download speed or playback of the VC-1 and h.264 encoded files, but we're not sure if they're ready to rival Youtube just yet. Since it requires additional software and doesn't just play in the browser, a lot of the convenience of other video sharing sites is lost, and as traffic increases Zudeo will need to rely on its own customers to continue to seed downloaded files. We'll see if Zudeo has what it takes as HDTV and IPTV grow closer together over the next year, and face rivals at Warner, MyTVPal, Xbox Live and others.[Via Wired & PVR Wire]
Mac Torrent clients reviewed
We all love OS X, but any Mac user with half a brain will admit that there are some areas in which the Windows world has us beat. When it comes to BitTorrent clients, Windows users have a veritable cornucopia of options to chose from, while us Mac users have a paltry 5 choices. TorrenFreak, always dedicated to excellence in the peer-to-peer realm, decided to take a look at all of the dedicated BitTorrent clients for the Mac. The reviewer considered the whole package of features, interface, and speed. As some of the more torrent astute readers might guess, Transmission and Bits On Wheels came out on top, with Tomato Torrent, Azureus, and the official BitTorrent client trailing behind.
