BitTorrent Powered TV is Coming
Written by Ernesto on April 14, 2009BitTorrent is already an important tool for millions of people who prefer their television on-demand, but integration with traditional TV-sets is still lacking. This is about to change though, as the Tribler team announces version 5 of its next generation BitTorrent client.
Researchers from the Tribler P2P team at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, have been working on their next generation BitTorrent client for a few years now. The initial releases worked well and innovative features were introduced frequently, even though the UI was still a little painful on the eyes.
Today the Tribler team releases the test builds of their V5 client. To silence some of the critics and to ensure compatibility with standalone devices they have redesigned the user interface, which is now much cleaner so it can be easily navigated with a remote control.
When you launch Tribler all you have to do is put some keywords in the search box and you can download torrents instantly. The search results are ranked by relevance and torrent quality, and if the torrent is well seeded you can play it instantly without having to wait for the download to complete.
Another key functionality of the new Tribler client is that the torrent search is fully distributed, meaning that the torrents come from within the network of peers and not from a torrent site or a central server. This could potentially make BitTorrent indexers such as Mininova and isoHunt obsolete.
The downside of this type of search is that it is impossible to remove or moderate fake files. In order to solve this problem the Tribler team will soon launch moderation and playlist features.
“We aim to make P2P easy to control and use. The power of P2P can be included in every television if we solve this issue,” Dr. Johan Pouwelse told TorrentFreak. “We are continuously working on simplifying P2P and are moving towards making it suitable to operate with a remote control.”
The scientists behind Tribler are part of the EU funded P2P-Next project. They work together with the BBC and several other European television broadcasters, as well as hardware developers such as Pioneer.
Tribler’s new interface
A test release of Tribler 5 is available for Windows, Mac and Ubuntu. Tribler’s Johan Pouwelse encourages everyone to give it a try, and provide feedback so the team can improve the client and help to bring BitTorrent to your TV as quickly as possible.
Previously: Leaked ACTA Draft: More Power to the RIAA
Next: Paulo Coelho Supports The Pirate Bay
78 Responses
where’s the “BitTorrent Powered TV” in this article?
Tribbler is kewl, no denying that, but how does this “integrate” with your tv? It doesn’t, It requires “indows, Mac and Ubuntu” meaning it’s merely a torrent client that still requires YOU to integrate your pc with your tv.
I’ve got a simpler method, download torrents, store downloaded files on NAS enclosure that shares to ps3, done. About as BT powered as tribbler.
Seriously, a torrent client that is easier to use with a remote is far from torrents on your tv.
hmm, will be fun to see what this leads to
rofl.
@phishybongwaters, one step at a time mate, although i do agree with you… i expected a little more ;)
My son uses these peer to peer downloading software and i know the FBI watches what people do on their computers so i made him stop. I feel good knowing i can protect my family from viruses and getting thrown in jail by stopping him from downloading things. The last thing we need is these torrent file installed into our tvs and putting viruses on them too. If i buy a tv i dont want torrents uploading viruses to its mainframe and motherboard.
As much as I can appreciate a BT client that can stream as it’s DLing, why the heck do they have to make it decentralized?
That is uberlame.
@5 you trolls just dont stop do you? you and your friends who spam the forums at TPB need to understand using terrorist actions and bully tactics on consumers is wrong
Hollywood is like a whining screaming baby if it doesn’t get what it wants it throws a tantrum
No encryption, broken links… DURFHURGHALUGA
hate to say it 7, but as stupid as 5’s comment is, the people who comment here scream just as loud when they think anything is even slightly amiss.
@5 Concerned parent, you really have no idea what you’re talking about, huh?
Not every torrent video is illegal. In some countries downloading copyrighted movies isn’t even illegal.
Virusses get installed on the hard-disk, and back in the days sometimes in your bios.
I got my first broad-band connection 12 years ago when I was 11 years old. I used to download a lot, but I learned myself how to do this in a safe way.
Just teach your kid some responsibility, he’ll be fine and your computer too. Don’t give him administrator rights, and even better, use linux or something. This tribler software also works on ubuntu
@7
Trolls trolling trolls
@9
whether or not 5 is a troll, most people don’t understand the concept of BT. Most people try to relate it to limewire on the viruses. That’s why there are filters and people who use the services to weed out the bad.
Its not just ubuntu, There is more in the linux world. Just say Linux, please.
Try Tribler Try,
Not far is the day,
When you shall go high
Try Tribler Try!
@5 You have every right to be wary of technology and the safety of your family. So as you took the time to read TF then I suggest you also take time to read up on computer security, new tech and of course spend more time with your family explaining what you have read. Its not the tech’s fault its the parents fault and always will be until, you spend more time with the children educating them on being morally correct instead of politically correct.And whatever you do, don’t you dare plead ignorant, saying I don’t know how it all works. Just get with the program and read, or just cancell your subscription to your ISP and forget the internet. Remeber YOU are the admin of YOUR network.
Try tribler try!
Not far is the day
When you shall go high
Try tribler try!
What facebook, which google?
How long shall they continue their farce?
Fret not, they’d soon be on their knees
And kiss your shiny red arse!
Millions of users you shall rule over
And you will serve them, over and over
With movies galore, and music great
And when no one’s watching,
A ‘wholesome’ sizzling p*@# plate ;-)
Key word searching and voting
Moderations and NAT traversing
Cool friends, hippin’ n’ hoppin’
Feasting on real time streamin’
With all these shall you provide
People (who) would go crazy in delight
You would be the apple of everyone’s eye
Your star would fly ever so high
Far above all the seven skies
Try tribler try!
Not far is the day
When you shall go high
Try tribler try!
thats a great lil poem there!! We’re all going to take some cyanide now.. ENJOY THE FREE ENTERTAINMENT FINALLY!!
@5 Yes! finally a fellow netizen with his priorities straight.
1. Think of the Children
2. …
3. Profit!
like hell it is
not with all that capping and crap and i already get tv via bittorrent what i need to pay 125$ a month for commercials and crap
GOOD LORD PEOPLE
GO GET AS MUCH AS YOU , YOUR FRIENDS CAN AND LET THEM HAVE THE NET ALL TO THEM SELVES
I know that torrents are bad and the FBI slices open bad peoples throat. That is why I use Comcast networks. My TV motherboard is always safe with Comcast. The torrent viruses sometimes get thru tho case all torrents have viruses
I know that trolls are bad and the FBI hire them to make stupid comments on your blog. That is why I will endeavour to ignore them. The last thing I want is my brain to be washed in Fairy bubbles in case rabble rabble.
Here is a constructive suggestion: rewrite it in a real programming language like C. Python emulation for windows? No, thanks.
You are all going to get caught by your local police and FBI’s because you are announcing you are downloading illegal torrent files online. I’ve done my research and know how these can infect your computers, phones, and other electronic tools on your networks. These viruses crashed my ipod nano and they can infect your devices too. Stay safe and dont risk your life and familys life in prison for a doler song off itunes. Your going to get viruses and arrested and your computers and house taken by polise.
This is an interesting idea, but tech and entertainment savvy individuals already have their computers connected to their wide screen tv’s and already know how to download entertainment media files.
It’s already here.
In the USA, cable companies are introducing caps for the explicit reason of slowing the uptake on streaming services… because it will destroy their cash cow cable subscriptions.
Fsck them.
@25 You’re right. When I download legal torrent files they pretty much are capped to less than 10 percent of the speed that I’m used to seeing with non-torrent files. They’re even capping legitimate downloads indiscrimately.
Thank goodness for being able to encrypt illegal downloads. The files download in a flash. ;)
@Concerned Parent:
Virus crashed your Ipod? You sure you just didn’t forget about the “Hold”-button being switched on? -LOL!
– Pirates are freedom-fighters!
My user downloads torrents and I know the FBI watches me all the time so I gave his tv and ipod nano a virus. I feel good knowing I have just completely ruined their day and prevented them from engaging in the next generation of media distribution. The last thing we need is these torrent files revolutionizing content distribution. If my user starts using torrents to watch media on his tv, I’ll upload a virus to his refrigerator.
pfft can it undo .rar’s on the fly too?
no? no?
didnt think so
no thnx
k thnx bai
Sounds good so far. As long as there is a simple method for downloading the streams also. I don’t want to see petty attempts saying “only to be watched, but not downloaded”
@ concerned parent
My son doesnt uses torrent nor allows his son to d/l .He doesnt know how technology had changed peoples life. He still want to ride donkey to go to other places. BTW i use torrent and it ROCKS!!
My son is a troubled child! Needs help
@22
Good luck rewriting that in C, it’s almost like restarting the entire project from scratch. Plus writing cross-platform code and Windows specific and Mac specific libraries support, plus Linux GTK/Qt support, compiz support + TV hardware support, when python is relatively fast and already has it?
Please, you are an idealist. I support your idea but I also realize it is not realizable.
I don’t understand how the search function works. The settings page on the test build gives no settings for which trackers it searches, and on their FAQ’s page, their description makes it sound more like a Gnutella client with preview than a BT client.
Can someone clarify?
To be honest this all sounds good until you consider the main thing?
does this really beat an RSS feed from EZTV that downloads while you do other things? not if you ask me.
How do you remotely control your pc? buy a wireless tracker ball remote. The bigger the screen the less of pain in the ass.
Some of the comments on this post are better than the article, and such I agree with #1, my TV & Projector are fed from my PC and my PC is my TV/DTV/HTPC.
I havn’t even looked at this Dribble to be honest and don’t think I will, I’ll just giggle @ the comments here while watching TV up in corner and ponder which torrent to check out.
Who said men can’t multitask?
@1, you think your flatscreen TV has no Linux interface? … wondering…
All of you are fcuking jerks…
yea yea me too . . .even the next commentator is a wanker.
Hello everybody. I am here to tell you about the viruses that come from your computer. Please always use protection when inserting .tor files in to your utorrent. Or else your Ipod will get herpes and die. That’s right all you pirates can use Avast. And don’t forget to encrypt your files or the AID’s, whoops, FBI’s is going come and get you.
@33, Tribler uses a distributed search engine. So you don’t have to (can’t even) add torrent websites.
Torrent websites can pump there content into the Tribler network (making it searchable) through a rss feed. Some sites already do.
@#5 concerned parent…
‘If i buy a tv i dont want torrents uploading viruses to its mainframe and motherboard.’
Buy a plastic bag for your TV’s ‘mainframe and motherboard’ and it will be protected from all known TTD’s (Torrent transmitted diseases).
I hear it works for ipod nano’s too… LOL!
Alternatively, get some tech know-how before postimg your fantasy scare tactics to a tech savvy site. Even though all those who read this site have very different (and sometimes heated) opinions, I respect their posts because they took the time to share… and I’m all about the sharing!
Or maybe you could explain how a virus could travel through an SVGA cable (real-world examples of infections please… not theoretical ones).
As you have posted previously (your writing style is identical to previous similar ’scare tactics’ posts), you shall be furthermore known as ‘OBVIOUS TROLL’.
Thanks for the entertainment though… ;)
@#5 concerned parent…
‘If i buy a tv i dont want torrents uploading viruses to its mainframe and motherboard.’
Buy a plastic bag for your TV’s ‘mainframe and motherboard’ and it will be protected from all known TTD’s (Torrent transmitted diseases).
I hear it works for ipod nano’s too… LOL!
Or maybe you could explain how a virus could travel through an SVGA cable (real-world examples of infections please… not theoretical ones).
Alternatively, get some tech know-how before postimg your fantasy scare tactics to a tech savvy site. Even though all those who read this site have very different (and sometimes heated) opinions, I respect their posts because they took the time to share… and I’m all about the sharing!
As you have posted previously (your writing style is identical to previous similar ’scare tactics’ posts), you shall be furthermore known as ‘OBVIOUS TROLL’.
Thanks for the entertainment though… ;)
@#5 concerned parent…
‘If i buy a tv i dont want torrents uploading viruses to its mainframe and motherboard.’
Buy a plastic bag for your TV’s ‘mainframe and motherboard’ and it will be protected from all known TTD’s (Torrent transmitted diseases).
I hear it works for ipod nano’s too… LOL!
Or maybe you could explain how a virus could travel through an SVGA cable (real-world examples of infections please… not theoretical ones).
Alternatively, get some tech know-how before posting your fantasy scare tactics to a tech savvy site. Even though all those who read this site have very different (and sometimes heated) opinions, I respect their posts because they took the time to share… and I’m all about the sharing!
As you have posted previously (your writing style is identical to previous similar ’scare tactics’ posts), you shall be furthermore known as ‘OBVIOUS TROLL’.
Thanks for the entertainment though… ;)
Oops… look at all the multiple posts… must be that TTD that infected my TV’s motherboard…
Sorry ’bout that!
(Whatever happened to ‘your posting too quickly’ error ?)
how do you fell about usage based billing and caps
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/04/14/bell-unlimited-download.html
help canada be unlimited
Add to this that the average couch potato isn’t going to know anything about joining private torrent sites. Because that’s the only way you’re going to get speeds fast enough to make watching streaming torrents even remotely practical.
Seriously, go to any public torrent site, download a torrent for a TV show and watch it dribble in at 5-10K/s over the next several hours. That’s assuming that it’s something current. If you pick something from more than a couple months ago, you’ll be lucky if it downloads over the weekend.
@Concerned Parent
Clearly you have no knowledge of security, P2P, iTunes, virii, trojans, and anything else technical I think of after completing this post.
You make blanket statement about how everyone who posts on this site downloads illegally, that’s just generalisation, and you know it ain’t true.
Stop trying to scare people, it doesn’t work as well as it used to as people can now educate themselves, thanks to the Internet.
If you are concerned, why not spend more time with your child while afk? Why not take him to the park and play ball? Maybe have an ice cream too, weather permitting.
@Rekrul: I am using EZTV (public) constantly. I agree with you on the whole streaming torrent scene. It just isn’t working. But I have not ran in to the problem of downloading old episodes. In fact when I download from Eztv the I usually download within the hour (depending on if it is 720p or not). Especially Jon and colbert. I admit though I do use a private site but only on the rare occasion a show trickles through EZTV’s cracks.
@EZTV: Please allow comments once more on your regular site. what’s the harm?
That would be very, very bad and a huge waste of resources. IPTV should use multicast, it is far more effective than BitTorrent.
@ 48 please do explain. I read the wiki on IPTV and it is deadly long. It does not seem that IPTV is being implement on a world wide scale. And the providers tend to want you to use a set top box like cable or satelite. Not very helpful if you want to watch american shows in Korea per se.
@5
“The last thing we need is these torrent file installed into our tvs and putting viruses on them too. If i buy a tv i dont want torrents uploading viruses to its mainframe and motherboard.”
OMG, do you really believe this?
I guess telling you to teach your son how to use Linux is out of the question, right?
- Do you know that there are no virus for Linux?
- Do you know Linux users use torrent for legal downloads on a daily basis?
- Do you know that Tribler is supported by the European Union, BBC and the European Broadcasting Union?
- Do you know that Tribler is developed by PhD researchers?
At least you made me laugh with the “Concerned” replies.
i was jk guys i know torrents wont give you viruses i was just being a ham.
Fact is ive been downloading for years and have never had a virus or problem.
dude this tribler is nothing more then combining utorrent with swarm player. The problem with these damn bittorrent ’streaming’ apps is that bittorrent is not made to stream. Bittorent is about quickly and efficiently getting the packets floating about. All these ’streaming’ apps do is prioritize the first packets in the video file. If everybody wants the first few packets then who gets the middle and end packets? This only seems to work when there are alot of seeders and not very many leechers using streaming. This is very unusual for a public torrent.
please do not virus my TV! its a delicate piece of equipment!
Thank you
Concerned Parent
I did an experiment just now I started downloading the first show I saw from my rss (EZTV feed) over Tribler 4.5.2. It was The Hills (terrible show). I told tribler to stream it to me and it had taken 5 minutes to start streaming. Although, that was for nothing since it finished downloading in 20 minutes. Now I could watch it (if I wanted to watch mindless dribble)with my favor media player. In conclusion, tribler is novel but is not practical. I will be sticking to my Utorrent thank you very much.
sounds good to me. i’m ready to try on fedora. so why did you do a deb when you could have done a generic linux?
Update on the tribler experiment: Tried to schedule download. Found no way of doing this in tribler. hmm….
Linux is alright. But, who needs it when you Windoze for pirates? I understand that linux is neat and all but it isn’t exactly mainstream.
I got a .torrent stuck in my throat and had to go to hospital to get it out.
These things need to be controlled by the Governments.
We get cases like this all the time, people arriving in E.R with .torrents inserted in every orrifice. You’d be amazed at how many insert these damned .torrents into their bottoms. There should be a law against it.
@5 Douche I mean concerned parent…
You are a moron.
leave #60. NOW!
Be careful when downloading torrents. They are actually an alien protocol that connects to a mothership orbiting our planet, which monitors the users IQ. When the aliens find a brainless user, they use GeoIP to locate and abduct the user. They do experiments with you and send you back to Earth disguised as MPAA executives, Hollywood producers and Media Defender share holders. Do you remember that famous line from Spilberg’s movie…”ET phone home”? It means “Elite Torrents phone home”. Why do you think they were all busted? They were sent to are 51.
@5- There is no such thing as illegal downloading. That cannot and never occurs. It is a media scare tactic and improperly naming the illegal action to create an unfounded fear.
There is such a thing as illegal copyright distribution and unlicensed rebroadcasting violations, but the act of downloading is never illegal. Thus this naming convention is a fabrication and the only thing you need to fear is the upload or re-upload which is the gray area of this debate and potentially illegal.
As long as you subscribe to cable or limit yourself to open air broadcast shows time-shifting has been ruled legal in the Sony vs. Betamax case. TV downloading has no enforcement teeth legally on anything other than the “rebroadcast”. Just teach your kid to leach and legally you are fine…
P2P streaming is the future. esp if they find a way to anonymize it properly.
ewwwww booooooo
@59 Concerned Nurse
I just accidentally a whole .torrent. Is this bad?
IF this new program does really work, don’t you think the authorities will look at the users of this highly publicized program first?…Im just saying.. think about it.
Also, Use private sites.
So where is the bittorrent TV? Oh wait there isn’t one.
I find it amusing how TF constantly refers to Tribbler as a next generation client. Fact is it isn’t. It’s reusing technology that has been around for ages. The client itself is missing many things that even basic clients like Deluge and Utorrent have. It has come a long way, but even if it compares favorably to simple utorrent, there is nothing next gen about it.
@5
You don’t really understand computers/theinternet do you?
I Like Miro..
concerned parent, 5
Must be a troll, no one that stupid would post on a site full of techies and expect not to get owned for such retarded statements.
Tribler only works on Ubuntu and not on any other distros (that I know of anyway). The source code is available but it doesn’t play nice. It needs more compatibility before I’m going to use it.
No one heard of TVUplayer?
I like the idea but I’m a sophisticated bittorrent user. I do my own torrent searches by either using an torrent search tool like “Bit Che” or by making use of Google as a torrent search tool.
So your search is preformed via an rss and dht nice but I still really can’t use it..
I can do the same thing with Vuze.
Anyways keep up the good work this will be useful for someone just not me.
My preferred file sharing clients are
Vuze
emule
limewire
Miro
If I want video streaming then I use veoh..
I am an idiot and I need help.
@10
Thank you for your confession.
As an FBI agent coping with the economic crisis, we are always looking for ways to make money.
Hopefully, with our new FBI port scanner, I was able to trace your i.p. address through this post.
We are coming.
Tribler adds keyword search ability to the BitTorrent file download protocol using a gossip protocol, somewhat similar to the eXeem network which was shut down in 2005. The software includes the ability to recommend content. After a dozen downloads the Tribler software can roughly estimate the download taste of the user and recommends content.[2] This feature is based on collaborative filtering, also featured on websites such as Last.fm and Amazon.com. Another feature of Tribler is a limited form of social networking and donation of upload capacity. Tribler includes the ability to mark specific users as online friends. Such friends can be used to increase the download speed of files by using their upload capacity. http://www.softwarefreedown.com/P2P-Tool-Tribler-v5-0_63437.html
I like the torrent search functionality that doesn’t rely on an indexer, sounds a little like how Kazaa, Gnutella and Bearshare used to work.
But I’ve had utorrent running happily on my Windows Media Center for three years now. It grabs my shows automatically via RSS and I can tell it to grab any movies I want through its web interface, and all hooked up to my main TV. So I’m not really seeing anything new with Tribler, or am I missing something ?
http://scoopea.com/Software/BitTorrent_Powered_TV_is_Coming_TorrentFreak
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