P2P file sharing client BitTorrent has announced that its technology is to be embedded into nine new consumer routers to make file sharing easier. Asus, Planex, and QNAP are the first three manufacturers to announce their plans to embed the download manager into their wireless routers, media servers and network attached storage devices.
The idea is that users will be able to start a download with their notebook computer, and then take their laptop out of range while the router or device continues to share the torrent. BitTorrent acknowledges its previous veil of illegitimacy in its statement about the new products, pointing out that the growing amount of “legitimate content being made available via BitTorrent” means that there’s a growing need for hardware to incorporate the torrent technology.
When Microsoft launches its Zune to compete with Apple’s iPod, it won’t just be reversing its own strategies but going against two decades of received wisdom. This could indicate a sea-change that will help more people get what they want. But it could also lead to users being increasingly locked into whichever systems they happen to buy and ultimately paying higher prices.
If NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge succeeds, the next vehicle to navigate the Sea of Tranquillity or the Pyrenees Mountains of our planet’s lone moon could be the guy who made the video game “Doom.” John Carmack, best known for making high-tech and high-selling computer games like “Doom” and “Quake,” is competing for a piece of the $2.5 million in prizes being handed out at this year’s X Prize Cup, which runs through Oct. 21 at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico.