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Gadgets BitTorrent in Consumer Electronics
Marcus Yam (Blog) - October 23, 2006 2:05 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 15 comment(s) - last by stmok.. on Oct 24 at 10:53 PM

The ASUS WL-700gE Wireless Storage Router
Now you can share without the need for a PC

BitTorrent Inc. today announced it is collaborating with a number of global hardware manufacturers on BitTorrent-embedded consumer products. ASUS, Planex and QNAP are among the first CE manufacturers to implement the BitTorrent download manager into their digital home devices.

“We are thrilled to announce new CE devices enhanced with our technology, enabling consumers to enjoy a world of digital content even when they are away from their PCs,” said Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent. “While already synonymous with efficient file delivery, BitTorrent is extending our reach beyond the PC and into a number of products and services to further strengthen the bridge between content and devices.”

ASUS, Planex and QNAP are the first to announce plans to embed BitTorrent’s download manager and client into their respective digital home products. Products include wireless routers, media servers and network attached storage (NAS) devices. A BitTorrent-based router will enable users to connect to the Internet, schedule and download files all without the need for a traditional PC to be used.

Available products supporting BitTorrent:

  • ASUS WL-700gE Wireless Storage Router
  • ASUS WL-500gP Router
  • ASUS WL-500gW Router
  • Planex BRC-W14VG-BT Router
  • Planex BRC-14VG-BT Router
  • Planex BRC-W14V-BT Router
  • Planex BLW-HPMM-U Router
  • Planex BLW-HPMM-G Router
  • QNAP TS101 NAS Server
  • QNAP TS-201 NAS Server

“BitTorrent technology is clearly going to be the default platform for downloading high-quality digital entertainment, which makes them a key partner for us and a key ingredient in our product roadmap,” said TenLong Deng, Associate VP, Wireless Device Business Unit of ASUS. “BitTorrent is an integral solution to connect the divide between popular content and our devices.”


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Pricing
By OrSin on 10/23/2006 2:27:11 PM , Rating: 2
It doesn't metion pricing here but I think at 200+ its a bit high. But consider you dont have to open ports on your pc it might be worth it. And most come iwth USB that you can even more storage, it can functon as a NAS its not too bad. Also for the PC crippled the client for this should be pretty simple to set up.




RE: Pricing
By ceefka on 10/23/2006 3:01:55 PM , Rating: 2
I have seen pricing in Europe. I am very interested in a QNAP TS-101. A 250GB version is about EUR 375,00, 320GB EUR 395,00. I'd consider that affordable. It is so much better than your old PC doing all that hard work ;-)


RE: Pricing
By Googer on 10/24/2006 1:26:04 AM , Rating: 2
There is almost no point in purchasing one of these, that is untill our ISP's stop being so greedy with our upload bandwith. We need at minimum 15 mb/s upload and just as much down. Idealy they should start giving us just as much upload as download speed. I believe it's one of the biggest reasons why most people leech and choose not to seed and when you only have 500k up, you really can't blame them for being greedy. With out seeders, bittorrent will remain a lazy horse (works when it wants to).


RE: Pricing
By Funksultan on 10/24/2006 4:43:07 PM , Rating: 1
"We need at minimum 15 mb/s upload and just as much down."

I dunno who the "we" you're referring to are, but statements like the above just make you appear ignorant, and at least as greedy as the ISP's you think are the culprits.

If you NEED that much bandwidth, then you NEED to buy a dedicated T1. Myself, I am drawing about 4-5mbit down, and 750k up, and can watch almost all video content being downladed in realtime (350 meg/hr video).

Sorry, didn't mean to slam ya. I just hate hearing the...

"ZOMG ZOMG! I need 50 terabyte hard drives and everyone should get OC3 connections for free! It's a conspiracy!"


The ASUS products been mentioned...
By stmok on 10/23/2006 4:39:57 PM , Rating: 2
...Aren't that good.

The firmware and the client app really lets it down for some people. (ie: Its not polished and shouldn't be really released for public consumption.)

At least their Linux based, meaning you can load up third-party firmware on them: OpenWRT, DD-WRT, etc. (Official ASUS ones are buggy).




RE: The ASUS products been mentioned...
By Visual on 10/24/2006 7:27:35 AM , Rating: 2
No, their linux didn't base yet. I'm sure i'd have headed if it did.


By stmok on 10/24/2006 10:53:10 PM , Rating: 2
Huh? You comment doesn't make much sense.

The ASUS ones ARE Linux based. They all use the SAME BroadCom chips as those in the Linksys WRT54G/GS/GL-series.

If you don't believe me, go to OpenWRT's wiki section and look in their hardware list.

If they're not, then how come I can run DD-WRT firmware on them?


By EarthsDM on 10/24/2006 1:10:55 PM , Rating: 1
You could have made a shorter post just by saying, '... are made by ASUS.' ; )


Market?
By thegrimreaper3 on 10/23/2006 3:02:28 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe its just me, but i realy dont see a market for this? I dont think bittorrent is used legaly enough for there to be this kind of hardware directly for it.




RE: Market?
By honkywonky on 10/23/2006 4:12:38 PM , Rating: 2
wow, you are really inconsiderate of people who use linux. Many developers don't have enough bandwidth to provide many users with some LEGAL downloads... It is far faster. Last time I was getting Fedora, I was getting 100kbps ftp while over 700kbps with bt.


RIAA...
By Le Québécois on 10/23/2006 3:03:37 PM , Rating: 2
That's one news the RIAA won't like much since it makes the use of .torrent even more legitimate.

And that's a very good news for the "pirates" and legal user of .torrent since it will probably improve the quality of the .torrent and quantity of companies that uses it for uploading their products.

I guess the only real loser on this one are web hosting site companie that will get less customers with times.




RE: RIAA...
By Zoomer on 10/23/2006 10:01:37 PM , Rating: 2
Nope, the sites still need hosting, and the torrent files too.

And the tracker.

No go there. :)


other questions
By LumbergTech on 10/23/2006 4:37:01 PM , Rating: 2
I have other questions about this myself...Im not so sure i would want some external device doing this crap ..what about my bandwith? how is it going to manage it? will i have control over it or will it be stuck on some preset value?

this could be very useful but id like to see a lot more info first




RE: other questions
By stmok on 10/23/2006 4:41:13 PM , Rating: 2
I suggest you download the manuals to the products OR visit fan sites (like WL500 one) OR read the reviews to find out the details.


By adeadparrot on 10/24/2006 9:20:04 AM , Rating: 2
I have an AMD/Linux box doing bittorrents 24/7. My ISP provides 9 meg DL and 2.5 meg UL. I've set my UL limit to 100k total however. Having an external box do all this instead of having a cpu/video card/PS running all the time makes a lot of sense. I could actually surf on my Linux box instead of turning on my Windoze box while Linux does KTorrent.
If you've never done the torrent thing, don't knock it. Sure, it has a sleazy reputation for pirate movies and music, but there's a ton of applications and other stuff out there. Any sports event will be available the following day. I grab cook books, obscure jazz music, Battlestar Galactica recordings, different flavors of Linux to play with, etc.
The more people that torrent, the more efficient it is!




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