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BitTorrent Inc is best known for its uTorrent customer. However, in recent years the company has put almost all of its focus publicly on other projects, even though the software is the software’s main breadwinner. Now, however, it seems like the company is poised for another move, with another CEO and a new commitment to focus on its uTorrent and mainline customers.
While torrent clients like qBitTorrent and Deluge have a passionate following among enthusiasts, there can only be one winner when it comes to the real king of BitTorrent transfers.
UTorrent is owned by San Francisco-based BitTorrent Inc. and is the leading torrent customer in the west. It has more than 150 million active users per month, an amazing feat for software that started out as a one-man project in Sweden in 2004.
In version 3.4.9, uTorrent was developed for more than 12 years, for 11 years under the guidance of BitTorrent Inc., which took control of the customer (and its inventor Ludvig Strigeus) in 2006. The customer’s massive success since then has had a significant impact on BitTorrent Inc. and generated tens of millions in advertising and affiliate revenue.
In fact, these revenues have been instrumental in the existence of BitTorrent Inc. and funded a basket of other products the company has brought to the table in recent years, such as the popular Dropbox competitor BitTorrent Sync.
But despite the tremendous contribution uTorrent has made to the company and its various forays into other areas, the software has become an unsung hero in recent years.
BitTorrent Inc. was between the bad publicity generated by millions of pirates who use the software for less than legal activities, a reliance on its enormous revenues, and its role in distributing content from registered artists for the client’s existence.
However, this could change now. Changes are underway at BitTorrent Inc that could see uTorrent and its mainline sister customer moving back into the spotlight, according to a report from Variety.
First of all, the company has another new CEO. Rogelio Choy joins the company after spending two years at Luxe Valet. However, Choy is also a former BitTorrent employee who served as chief operating officer between 2012 and 2015.
Choy’s retirement reportedly coincides with a switch in BitTorrent Inc.’s product line. BitTorrent Live, the patented live video streaming project developed by BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen, is being released as a separate venture-backed company, according to Variety Reports.
The company is run by Cohen himself, who is reportedly stepping down from his day-to-day involvement with BitTorrent Inc. but remains on the company’s board of directors. He also has something up his sleeve.
Cohen, a series inventor and avowed puzzle enthusiast, is set to focus on a new cryptocurrency project. Given how active Cohen has been in related, and often heated, online discussions over the past several years, this is no surprise.
With all of these changes in mind, perhaps the most important news for torrent fans is that BitTorrent Inc. will once again focus on its flagship products, the uTorrent and mainline customers. How this will manifest itself, however, is open to debate.
Most of the really important additions such as magnetic links, PEX, and the network-friendly enhancement of the uTP protocol were made before 2010, about seven years ago. There have been some minor additions lately, such as the altruistic mode in 2016, but otherwise development has been flat.
Pulling something exciting out of the hat at this late stage in product life might be a big question, but given BitTorrent’s success and longevity (in 15 years, nothing else has technically been able to beat it), the company could another achievement produce a surprise.
However, it is entirely possible that BitTorrent Inc. will continue its policy of focusing on the positive things the software can do, rather than the software itself. For years, the company has tried and even bids to attract artists to its distribution platform started funding them through his Discovery Fund.
But since this is now scrapped, it will have to rely on artists who understand the benefits of BitTorrent Bundles. They’ll be joining Bribery Corporation, which recently signed a deal with BitTorrent to provide the exclusive platform for all of their releases.
Whatever happens, uTorrent remains an exciting part of the P2P landscape and doesn’t look like it’s going to go away anytime soon. Whether it can get an unexpected technological boost remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it will remain the customer of choice for tens of millions of fans, many of whom are happy with it as it is.
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