Although they didn’t win the award, the evolution of Bitlet continued steadily. After its introduction it added features such as music streaming (currently utilized by mininova) and the ‘bookmarklet‘ which allows users to inject a direct download link into torrent search engines. Today Bitlet adds video streaming to this list, another long awaited addition.

The experimental video streaming feature allows users to stream video using BitTorrent and watch the file, even as it’s still downloading. The first release only supports videos in the Ogg format, but developer Daniele Castagna told TorrentFreak that he might extend this list, depending on how much time he can spend on the project.

In order to make Bitlet work with streaming video a few modifications had to be made, but its still good old BitTorrent technology under the hood. Daniele has put up a few example videos on the site and below them are instructions on how to stream your own files using Bitlet.

There are a few important conditions to fulfill in order to achieve an optimal streaming experience. Of primary importance is the need for sufficient seeds and peers to guarantee a decent download speed. Besides this, the playback time will depend on the quality of the video – the higher the quality, the more bandwidth is needed.

The streaming feature seems to be working well, and it’s actually the first live example of BitTorrent video streaming which doesn’t require the installation of any obscure third party applications. The only thing needed is an up-to-date version of Java, which most people already have installed.

Although current bandwidth prices are dropping, most video services such as YouTube are paying millions of dollars for traditional server side streaming. Especially high quality video is costly to stream, and peer-to-peer technology can certainly make a huge difference there.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

We first introduced BitLet back in July 2007.

BitLet is a web-based Java applet which makes it possible to download .torrent files on a computer that doesn’t have a BitTorrent client installed, which is fantastic for people who either can’t, or don’t know how to, install additional software. The site isn’t just clear and functional, it’s incredibly easy to use too – simply enter the url of the .torrent file you wish to use and sit back and wait for your chosen material to download.

In recognition of this innovative site, the editors over at CNET Webware.com have chosen BitLet to be a finalist in the Webware 100 Awards 2008. This is quite an achievement considering the heavyweights who came out on top in 2007, such as Bebo, Gmail, MySpace, Wikipedia and YouTube. BitLet is nominated in the Security and Utility division.

For the 2008 contest, a total of 4,600 Web 2.0 services were nominated by Webware readers and from these, a lucky 300 finalists were selected, including BitLet, of course.

Other BitTorrent related services were also nominated. BitTorrent.com itself was nominated along with Pando, and the Firefox based AllPeers. Sadly, AllPeers bit the dust so will no longer be included.

Alessandro and Daniele of BitLet told TorrentFreak: “We are really proud of this achievement. Being chosen as one of the finalists is a huge acknowledgment for an application like BitLet. When we started to develop the applet we wanted to support BitTorrent content distribution by creating an extremely simple tool to allow anyone to download files with just one click. We may not have achieved that precise objective (yet :P) but Webware’s nomination, in addition to the good feedback we receive from our users, encourages us to keep working on new features and improving the existing ones.”

Indeed, BitLet has been evolving since its introduction, adding features such as the BitLet ‘Upload‘ section which adds torrent creation to the service, the music streaming feature which is also used by Mininova, and the ‘bookmarklet‘ which allows the user to inject a direct download link into torrent search engines.

BitLet’s features add up to one of the most innovative BitTorrent related services, and a worthy addition to the Webware 100 finalists list.

If you’d like to vote for BitLet -30 million BitTorrent users voting should do the job- you can do so right up until March 31, by clicking here.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Currently, WeStream supports OGG and MP3 encoded audio files, but more file types will be included in the near future.

There are a few important conditions to achieve an optimal streaming experience. Most importantly, there should be enough seeds and peers to guarantee a decent download speed. Besides this, the playback time will depend on the filesize of the tracks – the higher the bitrate, the more bandwidth is needed.

Below is an example of WeStream for a torrent from Mininova’s featured torrents section. By clicking on this link you can load it in your web browser.

From a technical viewpoint, WeStream prioritizes the bits at the beginning of each song, otherwise it will be impossible to stream anything before the entire track is downloaded. However, like most other BitTorrent clients, it also gives a high priority to rare pieces in order to guarantee an optimal swarm speed.

The applet seeds the torrents as long as you keep the browser window open. Daniele, the developer of both BitLet and the new WeStream feature told TorrentFreak: “It would have been easy to design the streaming client to be extremely selfish, and make it care only for its needs. Ideally, we tried to avoid it: Westream should behave as most torrent clients, with a slightly different piece choosing strategy.”

WeStream is a great tool for people who want to listen to some of the tracks before they download anything, or for people who want to let their friends listen to an album without having to send all the files over first. Above all, it is a great looking innovation from the BitLet team that shows how much is possible with BitTorrent. We might just see this implemented in some of the popular BitTorrent sites soon.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

BitComet Lite

Most people know BitComet as a standalone BitTorrent client, but the BitComet team also offers other tools. BitComet Lite is one of them, it’s basically a small BitTorrent client with a .torrent file included. With the BitComet Lite maker you can select a torrent file to include with the application and customize it with your own graphics. The application then compiles an .exe file that you can send to your BitTorrent illiterate friends. When they open the file you shared with them they can select the download location and the file will start downloading.

It is possible to resume downloads with BitComet Lite, which is ideal for larger files that can’t be downloaded at once. The user doesn’t have to configure anything and the download speeds are pretty decent. The only limitation is that the application is for windows users only.

BitLet

BitLet is a very neat web-based Java applet that allows you to download .torrent files without having BitTorrent client installed. The web based BitTorrent client is ideal to share a torrent with less tech-savvy friends. It works pretty simple, just append the link to the torrent to this url http://www.bitlet.org/?torrent= and send it to your friends, here’s an example. If people click on the link a popup window will appear, and the download starts immediately.

It is possible to resume downloads, just click on the link again and safe the file in the same location. BitLet also has a very useful code generator so you can offer BitTorrent downloads on your blog or website so that people can easily download, even when they don’t have a BitTorrent client installed.

Personally I prefer BitLet over BitComet Lite because it is costs less time and it is platform independent. The advantage of BitComet Lite to some might be that you can brand the application with your own images, which may look more professional.

Do you know of any other ways to share torrents with BitTorrent novices? Let us know and leave a comment!

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Some BitTorrent sites, Suprnova and Fenopy for example, already list Bitlet download links on their site. However, for all the other sites the bookmarklet comes in handy. It saves you some time because you don’t have to go to the BitLet homepage and enter the .torrent link manually.

For those who are not familiar with bookmarklets, it works really simple. Add the bookmarklet – listed over here – to your toolbar or favorites. Visit your favorite BitTorrent site, and when you find a torrent you want to download on your, simply click on the bookmarklet and a “download with Bitlet” link will show up.

Thanks to BitLet I’ve shared files with people who never heard of BitTorrent. It requires no configuration – although you can change the port and upload speed – and the speeds are comparable to most other BitTorrent clients. Most importantly perhaps, it brings BitTorrent distribution another step closer to the complete novice.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.