With dozens of million of users Dropbox is the leading cloud hosting and synchronization service.

The convenience of dropping files into a folder to automatically sync them online and with other devices appeals to a large audience, but some want even more features.

Earlier this year many BitTorrent users got excited by the launch of a new Dropbox app that enabled the downloading of torrents directly to Dropbox folders. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm quickly faded when Dropbox banned the app over piracy concerns.

According to Dropbox the app’s features “could be perceived as encouraging users to violate copyright using Dropbox.”

Luckily, there are also companies who see BitTorrent for the neutral technology that it is. The relatively new Dropbox competitor Maxxo is a good example, underlined by their launch this week of BitTorrent support as a native feature.

This means that besides backing up and syncing files across devices, Maxxo also enables users to download torrents. Users can simply drop a .torrent file into the Maxxo interface and right-click to start the download.

“By using BitTorrent through Maxxo our users can download files fast and completely anonymously,” Maxxo CEO Luka Hovat told TorrentFreak. “It’s a feature that none of our competitors have.”

Because all torrent downloads go directly though Maxxo’s servers, users don’t have to worry about being watched by third parties.

Maxxo offers free accounts which are limited to five gigabytes of storage and a maximum of two simultaneous BitTorrent transfers. Paid users can download 10 torrent files at a time and have higher storage and transfer limits.

For the occasional BitTorrent user Maxxo is a pretty suitable remote download service, or a “seedbox” with automatic sync across multiple computers. TorrentFreak briefly tested the service and aside from the occasional hiccup, most of the torrent files we tried downloaded just fine.

Maxxo is currently Windows only but they are working on a Mac application, as well as support for mobile devices. BitTorrent support aside, it also allows users to create lists of friends to easily share files with.

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

]]> http://torrentfreak.com/dropbox-competitor-adds-bittorrent-support-120828/feed/ 91 http://torrentfreak.com/boxopus-downloads-torrents-to-dropbox-120623/ http://torrentfreak.com/boxopus-downloads-torrents-to-dropbox-120623/#comments Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:33:51 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=52228 Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

]]> Founded in 2007, Dropbox has quickly become the leading player in cloud hosting and synchronization services.

The service is loved by many for its ease of use, and thanks to the newly launched Boxopus site, BitTorrent users are now able to automatically put torrent downloads in their Dropbox folder. It only takes one click and the files are downloaded and synced to all computers.

Using the service is easy. People can securely use their Dropbox credentials to pair Dropbox with Boxopus, and add as many torrents as they like. The Boxopus servers will then take care of the downloading and put the completed downloads in a folder.

“Cloud storage is an emerging trend, it’s obvious that sooner or later everything will be in the cloud. That’s why we decided to unite Dropbox and BitTorrent to make downloads as easy as 1 click, without using even a BitTorrent client,” Boxopus founder Alex told TorrentFreak.

One of the main benefits to users is that they can add torrents to their Dropbox from work, school or on the road. The files will then be automatically synced to all computers running Dropbox. Another plus side is that these downloads are anonymous, as Boxopus takes care of the downloading.

Boxopus downloads

Boxopus uses the Dropbox API, meaning that the site has no access to any other files stored on your account. The main downside is, however, that downloading generally takes a bit longer because Dropbox sync speeds are limited.

For torrent sites Boxopus offers the option to add direct integration with their service.

TorrentReactor, Fulldls.com, Vertor.com and Torrentzap.com have already added support, and the Boxopus team hopes that more torrent sites will add a one-click download button to their sites in the near future.

The Boxopus team told TorrentFreak that the service will be completely free and unlimited during beta testing stage. After that, some limits will be imposed on free subscriptions.

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

]]> http://torrentfreak.com/boxopus-downloads-torrents-to-dropbox-120623/feed/ 77