After Surf was launched back in January, BitTorrent is bringing the beta version of its browser plug-in to Chrome and Firefox. The plug-in will allow you to discover and download torrents directly from your browsers. You can now grab hold of the respective BitTorrent Surf add-ons for Chrome and Firefox.
Amongst the newer features BitTorrent has added to Surf beta includes a recommendation engine to the plug-in. It will feature content from the torrent site as well as its partners when you are searching for something. “So, say you’re an EDM fan and you’re searching for content by DJ Shadow. Surf will serve up relevant content suggestions, like a BitTorrent Bundle from Pretty Lights,” BitTorrent wrote in a blog, explaining how the recommendations are supposed to work.
“Recommendation and prioritization can help drive visibility for BitTorrent partner artists – solving for the exposure barrier that every creator is confronted with. That’s pretty powerful stuff,” the blog continued. We’re not sure a lot of people will be too happy with the recommendations option.
Another new addition includes a usability feature – a status window for easy download progress management.
BitTorrent had launched Surf back in January, after six months of working on it. It was initially launched just for Google Chrome and a Firefox version was said to be in works then. It helps you search and discover torrents directly from within the browser. Surf uses search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! by adding ‘torrent’ to the end of your search queries. You can also add their favourite sites to the extension.
BitTorrent with Surf expects to advance and simplify content discovery by bringing the ability to discover media right from the browser. Once you have found content, Surf will help measure and display the health of the torrent file in order to help you select the best quality media. You can even manage your downloads from within the browser.
The description of the add-on lists the following features for both, Chrome and Firefox:
Search: Quickly find torrents across multiple search sites, automatically detect search sites, and add your favourite sites to create a search custom engine.
Download: Get media from sites like the Internet Archive directly from your search results in one click, manage downloads and notifications from your browser while you surf, and use file health estimates to help you select the best quality media to download.
Play: Just push play.
While the alpha version of the app was available only for Chrome, Firefox has been extended the beta treatment this time round.
BitTorrent has been trying to change its image by distancing itself from piracy completely. The company came up with a unique way to announce that it had nothing to do with piracy. The website has the question ‘Does BitTorrent=Privacy?’ and in large letters, the word ‘No’.
“We hear this question all the time,” BitTorrent Inc. CEO Eric Klinker says. “We hear we’ve killed film, the radio star, and the content industry. We hear we’re the web’s dark matter, and the Internet’s seedy underbelly. We are not.”
BitTorrent says it had actually started the technology to make sharing files over the Internet easier. The company says the technology itself is neutral and is good for content creators.
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