BitTorrent Sync is a lightweight backup tool that eliminates this drawback, and it’s much faster too.

The functionality of the Sync application is comparable to most cloud-based sync tools, except for the fact that there’s no cloud involved. Users simply share their files across their own devices, or the devices of people they share files with.

Since its launch the application has built a steady user base of millions of users who already transferred a mind-boggling amount of data.

“Since the initial Alpha launch of Sync a little over a year ago, we’ve now hit over 10 million total user installs and have transferred over 80 Petabytes of data,” BitTorrent Inc’s Erik Pounds notes.

Today marks another big step in the development of Sync. With the release of version 1.4 users are now able to share files and folders more easily, by simply sending someone a URL. Previously, people had to exchange encryption keys which seemed more complicated.

People who receive a Sync URL will be directed to a download page where they are prompted to install Sync, if it isn’t already, and start downloading files right away.

Sync offers a wide variety of sharing options. Users have complete control over where their data is going and how it is used. This includes setting read/write permissions and the option to give access to approved devices only.

“Sync gives you full ownership over your data. With no third parties involved in storing or arbitrating your data, you know exactly where your files go,” Pounds explains.

In addition to the easier sharing options and various other improvements, the latest release also has a completely redesigned interface.

For those who are interested, the latest version of BitTorrent Sync is now available for download here, completely free of charge.

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

With that in mind it will come as no surprise that one of the biggest torrent-related stories of recent times was the news that The Pirate Bay team is working on a new system, one designed to cut through Internet censorship.

While the debut of that software is a while off, others have been working on similar projects with the same goal in mind. Harvard research fellow Jack Minardi has been building a censorship-busting web browser, one that’s running BitTorrent under the hood.

Called SyncNet, Minardi’s tool is built on BitTorrent Sync, the powerful Dropbox-like software launched last year by BitTorrent Inc. While in its basic form Sync is generally used for syncing files and folders between machines, friends and co-workers, in its SyncNet application it is used to store and distribute HTML, images and other web content.

“To add your own content to SyncNet you just need to add a directory of HTML files to BitTorrent Sync,” Minardi explains.

By self-publishing websites locally, everyone with access to a machine through BitTorrent Sync/SyncNet can view it peer-to-peer without the need to access a traditional server-based website. Any changes to the website are automatically pushed to users and since BitTorrent Sync has a feature to grant users read-only access, there’s no risk of unauthorized modification of content.

The decision to used BitTorrent Sync under the SyncNet hood is both brilliant and at the same time incredibly obvious when one considers the former’s distribution skills.

Further playing to BitTorrent Sync’s strengths, the idea is that future updates will allow SyncNet to browse regular websites and store them locally, ready to be synced between other users of SyncNet. In theory only one user in the sharing network will need access to ‘outside’ websites in order to view them and in common with regular BitTorrent, transfer speeds will increase as the sharing network grows.

While SyncNet is a very exciting proposition, it is still under development and comes with certain limitations. Firstly, it currently works only with static content.

“This means no social networks or other dynamic content,” Minardi explains. “However many sites today do not need to be dynamic and would benefit from converting to only static resources. Most blogs or news sites could be served with SyncNet with little to no modifications.”

Another difficulty arises when a website’s content changes. Currently SyncNet has to pull down fresh files for an entire site, not just for a single modified page. However, Minardi notes that selective syncing should be possible since BitTorrent Sync already has that capability.

Perhaps the largest issue to overcome is that of domain resolution, but Minardi says that will be tackled by the use of Colored Coins, a new mechanism built on top of the Bitcoin protocol.

“Colored Coins essentially allow you to color a certain coin and mark that it represents ownership of something else. In SyncNet a colored coin will represent ownership of a domain name. Anyone with access to the Bitcoin blockchain (which is public data) will be able to see who owns a domain name and what secret it resolves to,” Minardi explains.

For those who like to get their hands dirty with experimental tools the NetSync GitHub project page can be found here, with further reading here. Those looking for a more simple route will have to wait for the Chrome and Firefox plugins currently under consideration.

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

In terms of functionality it’s comparable to most cloud-based sync tools such as Dropbox, except for the fact that there’s no cloud involved.

Users simply share their files across their own devices, or the devices of people they invite to their private folders.

Combine the above with no limit on file-sizes or bandwidth and the recipe for success is complete.

Today BitTorrent Inc. announces that the number of Sync users doubled over the past month, from 1 to 2 million. In addition, the company claims that its application is 7 times faster than the cloud based Dropbox.

“In internal tests done over a local network, BitTorrent Sync has proven to be up to 7X faster than Dropbox,” The company states.

The results are not coming from the most objective party of course, but many people have indeed found that Sync is much faster than many alternative backup and synchronization tools.

BitTorrent further reports that compared to Dropbox, Sync users transfer more than 40 times as much data.

“Sync is moving over 20 gigabytes per person. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. Dropbox’s cloud-based platform stores less than 0.42 gigabytes per user,” BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker says.

The fact that there are no storage limits of fees involved probably plays an important role here.

For those who are interested, the latest version of BitTorrent Sync is now available for download here, completely free of charge.

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

In terms of functionality it’s comparable to most cloud-based sync tools, except for the fact that there’s no cloud involved. Users simply share their files across their own devices, or the devices of people they invite to their private folders.

Combine the above with no limit on file-sizes or bandwidth and a smash hit is born.

The free application was first released to the public in January and today BitTorrent inc. announced that it has already passed the one million user mark. The company further informs TorrentFreak that together these users have synced over 30 petabytes of data thus far, up from eight petabytes back in July.

The success has motivated the San Francisco company to put a dedicated team of developers on the software, which has resulted in several updates and improvements in recent months.

Today BitTorrent Sync 1.2 was released and one of the key changes is a doubling of the maximum transfer speed. Sync was already quite fast as files are not stored in the cloud, but the latest release bumps the transfer speeds to 90 MB/s.

“Sync skips the cloud to deliver files faster than server-based alternatives, like Dropbox. And with 1.2, we’ve boosted Sync’s speed performance. The app’s been clocked at 90 MB/s on the LAN. Which means your 10 GB file will be synced in less than two minutes,” the BitTorrent Sync team notes.

The new release also offers several updates and improvements for iOS users, including an iPad app to sync photos.

“We’ve updated Sync to include an updated design, improved connection speed, iOS7 compatibility, and a native iPad app. We’ve also added to the iOS feature set. You can now send and sync files in other apps using Sync, and save media from your Sync folders direct to your camera roll.”

Finally, BitTorrent has released an API. The company hopes this will encourage developers to create a wide variety of Sync based apps, such as social networking or secure chat tools.

“The new API will allow developers to create distributed social media, communications, and enterprise apps on top of the platform. It’s designed to work across major operating systems; including Windows, Mac, and Linux.”

With the latest improvements and the new tools BitTorrent hopes to reach an even wider audience, especially among those who want full control over their own data

“Our goal is to build a sharing tool that lets you move big files, and big ideas, freely. Without surveillance. Without speed limits. And without size caps. Your data belongs to you. Sync is designed to keep your stuff yours; with you and your team, wherever you are,” the Sync team notes.

The latest version of BitTorrent Sync is now available for download here, completely free of charge.

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

This means that not only do you have to trust these companies with your personal and confidential files, but free storage space is limited.

BitTorrent Sync is a lightweight backup tool that eliminates these drawbacks, and it’s much faster too.

The functionality of the Sync application is comparable to most cloud-based sync tools, except for the fact that there’s no cloud involved. Users simply share their files across their own devices, or the devices of people they invite to their private folders.

Earlier this year Sync was released for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android, and today BitTorrent has officially announced the iOS version.

“We’re happy to report that BitTorrent Sync will soon be available for iOS devices in the App Store. iOS fans: you can now sync freely,” the company writes in a blog post.

The latest release also adds 10 new languages, including German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Chinese.

BitTorrent Sync’s iOS app has started rolling out today and should be available in App Stores all around the world soon.

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