14 DAY TRIAL // In the world of file sharing BitTorrent is king and in the world of BitTorrent uTorrent is king. No surprise then that the BitTorrent client now has 100 million active users.
It's the most popular client out there, by a fair margin, but the milestone also underlines that there is a huge market potential that BitTorrent, the company which owns and develops the app, is looking to tap into.
In the early days, uTorrent rose to prominence due to its lightweight and laser focus, there was no simpler way of getting a file shared over the BitTorrent network on your hard drive.
But the lightweight app grew into something more in recent years, it added more and more features, many not core to the task it was designed to do, get BitTorrent files on people's computers.
Very recently, it added the ability to create apps that run on top of uTorrent. It also added streaming for media files that haven't finished downloading, an updated BitTorrent protocol, new ways of discovering peers and so on.
The app changed, but so did its audience and the BitTorrent community.
Granted, most files shared on the network are illicit, but there has always been legitimate content and BitTorrent, the company, along with others are working on making the protocol a simple way of distributing content rather than anything else.
There have been plenty of examples of shows, music and even full-length movies debuting on the BitTorrent network and even with the uTorrent app.
As far as BitTorrent, the company, is concerned things are just beginning. It has big plans for the protocol and uTorrent, like having it available in as many devices as possible.
A paid version of the app is also coming later this year. Dubbed uTorrent Plus, it plans to offer additional functionality for the discerning user. In particular, uTorrent Plus will enable users to send their files to any device and be assured that they will play.