TorrentRelay’s BitTorrent Download Service Expands
Written by enigmax on August 31, 2008In June we wrote about TorrentRelay, a site which enabled anyone with a web-enabled device to download torrent without a BitTorrent client. A few months later, the site has evolved quite a bit. We take a look at the new site and the range of useful features that were added by the developer.
Mostly written in Perl, TorrentRelay provides any user with a web-enabled browser (including game consoles) with the ability to download torrents without having to install a BitTorrent client. The process itself is quite straightforward, and a brief description is available in our earlier interview with the developer. A more comprehensive guide can be found here.
Since the launch of TorrentRelay, Kevin Kowalewski, the creator of the site, hasn’t been letting the grass grow under his feet. During the last few months, things have certainly moved on, and now TorrentRelay offers lots of brand new features which are mostly unique to a service of this type. We take a look.
One of the new features is ‘Fast Relay’. It allows users to save their files before the torrent has actually finished, with a save link becoming available during the first few minutes of transfer. As the torrent downloads on TorrentRelay, the data is sent directly to a ‘Save As’ dialog on the user’s PC, cutting down on save time. ‘Auto Save’ allows the user to start saving automatically to their default Firefox ’save’ location. Selective file downloading from within torrents is available.
‘Load Again’, another new feature, makes it possible to easily restart previously loaded torrents, since the service is able to save a list of every other torrent used so far. TorrentRelay now also allows users to receive an email when a torrent has been completed, and the site now displays the combined speed and percentage completed of all active torrents.
Sites like TorrentRelay, or the Imageshack service we reported on earlier, are bandwidth intensive projects and of course, bandwidth costs money. While TorrentRelay continues to offer a free service like Imageshack’s, greater functionality is available to those who can afford a few dollars a month. The free version allows the user to download 3 torrents per day (2 simultaneously), each with a download rate of 500KBps and an upload rate of 250KBps
The ‘Prime’ service, costing $9.99 per month, allows intensive users to customize the experience and get a more feature-rich environment, allowing six active torrents and enhanced torrent transfer speeds. Prime also offers a personalized login which enables users to keep all their settings just the way they like them, regardless of login location. Other features include the ability to keep downloading after closing the browser, seeding to a ratio of 1.5 instead of 1.0, and a nice time-saving automated online RAR extraction.
One of the early applications of TorrentRelay was its Playstation 3 compatibility. Now it’s possible for ‘Prime’ users to stream video (.avi or .wmv) from torrents straight to the console. A video tutorial is available here.
Overall, TorrentRelay seems to be developing into a decent service with some nice features. It’s to be expected that bandwidth intensive users should pay a little for the service, and $9.99 isn’t going to break the bank, but it would be nice if some of the additional functionality of the ‘Prime’ account was available to all users.
Previously: Indiana Gregg to Beat Pirates with Music Download Site
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21 Responses
A) why comments like 1, 2 & 3 are not removed is beyond me…
B) Can anyone else get the TPB right now?
@oneplusone
a) sorry for those offensive comments, we remove them when we’re around but we aren’t here 24/7. They’ve been removed now
b) yes, I can access the site although we know that others can’t
cheers
cool.. thx
Torrent Relay seems fantastic, I’m loving it!
dude thats sweet
when you have a PC?!
Why would you want to watch a movie on your tiney PC screen, when you have a 52″ Bravia HDTV connected to your PS3 over HDMI?
HA pc-smheeshy.
TorrentRelay seems nice,
“Why would you want to watch a movie on your tiney PC screen, when you have a 52″ Bravia HDTV connected to your PS3 over HDMI?”
I don’t, and I don’t intend to :)
A computer with a monitor is fine for me.
I hope the everyday person can one day get into the habit of using BitTorrent. That means I hope BitTorrent eventually becomes as popular as television.
Used this for a couple weeks in june when tf first reported it and it was nice!!!
However I rarely get above 30 down these days. I don’t see why anyone would want to pay $9.99 a month just to be able to download torrents on there consoles, but I wouldn’t object in my situation where downloading via http is the only option.
Using this site is SO easy its not even funny, its actually easier than my PC torrent client.
Its not really meant for the PS3, its just you CAN use it on the PS3’s browser.
Its meant for ANYONE who wants to download torrents QUICKLY.
I for one am going to sign up for Prime, I like the fact I can shutdown my PC or login somewhere else to get at my running / downloaded torrents.
why would you pay for an expensive gamesconsole and use it to play movies while you have a perfectly fine PC with hdmi-out to view anything on your HDTV??
don’t be silly, PS3…
@12: The same reason as playing games on a console instead of a PC; the hassle factor. Being able to toss in a movie or game and have it just work without any tweaking and/or troubleshooting makes life so very much easier. Plus with PC’s there is the upgrade/update factor for both hardware and software, which can also be a pain. As a long time PC gamer and enthusiast who gave in an bought my first truly next-gen console a few years ago, I speak honestly based on experience.
The question is what happens the first time somebody goes after them legally.
My fear is that at best the service will only survive a couple months until the movie and/or record companies catch wind and start going after them and their ISP, and at worst will get busted with everyone’s account info, logs, and addy’s.
Morgan42,
There’s no way your information will be revealed if you actually took the time to visit the site you’ll find they don’t keep logs and don’t keep a copy of any of your records.
They’re not responsible for what you download since a good number of torrents are actually legal, they simply provide means to download just like the much bigger (and way crappier torrent wise) ImageShack.
This service is perfect for downloading without the fears of downloading at home.
Along with the recent cap by Comcast, you can download without the need to upload your self, Torrent Relay takes care of that.
I found Torrent Relay to be an excellent tool for downloading torrent and am going to signup for Prime, its only 10$ !!! Now my torrents can follow me wherever I go without hassle.
I tried it and I liked it but. . . I have to weigh out whether I get a rapidshare account or sign up with this.
But this is fantastic for something that’s free! Just paying extra will put the icing on it.
Torrelay seems fantastic, Prime please!
“There’s no way your information will be revealed if you actually took the time to visit the site you’ll find they don’t keep logs and don’t keep a copy of any of your records.
They’re not responsible for what you download since a good number of torrents are actually legal, they simply provide means to download just like the much bigger (and way crappier torrent wise) ImageShack.”
Believe me, I’m not slamming the site, I love the idea of it.
The problem is that the “they can’t be held responsible if you are doing something illegal” part is, well, painfully untrue. 2/3 of every TF post right now are about tracker sites getting yanked, sued, and spanked for just “opperating a search engine”.
I wish TorrentRelay a long, long, long, long, happy life. I’m just afraid there are going to be groups out there trying to kill it off, if they aren’t already.
There’s clear differences between a torrent client and a torrent tracker.
TorrentRelay in no way has any form of search engine to it, the torrents that get used there are entirely up to you, the downloader.
TorrentRelay is no different than any other client out there, Azureus (Vuze), uTorrent, BitTorrent etc… Its not up to the client to decide what gets downloaded and what doesn’t.
Trackers are the ones that manage the connections between peers and distribute the torrent files them selves.
TR works well, some private trackers will work with it. Bypasses all firewall problems so you could use it at work or school. It’s fast and reliable
its not free anymore! is there any site like the torrelay?
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