Opera Software announced on Friday that it has teamed with BitTorrent Inc. to include the BitTorrent protocol in the upcoming version of the Opera Web browser.
Opera and BitTorrent have signed an agreement covering Opera's use of the BitTorrent trademark and access to the BitTorrent search engine from the browser's user interface. A technical preview (TP) of the Opera 9 browser will be made available soon.
BitTorrent's technology will be made available to users of the Opera browser in two ways: first, users can search for torrent files in the Opera browser's integrated search field, and second, when a file has been selected, Opera's Transfer Manager feature will handle the download. As a result of integrating BitTorrent into the Opera browser, users no longer need separate software for the searching and downloading of torrent content.
Opera Software was the first mass-market browser vendor to implement BitTorrent technology. On July 7, 2005, the company launched the first technical preview of the Opera browser (Opera 8.02) which included the BitTorrent protocol. As a result of positive user feedback and further testing, Opera has now decided to maintain BitTorrent in the upcoming Opera 9 Web browser.
Christen Krogh, VP of Engineering, Opera Software, said,
"Implementing BitTorrent is a natural choice, considering its efficient use of bandwidth and worldwide popularity. For users this means that they can browse and download content in an application they're familiar with."
Opera already supports other file transfer protocols such as FTP and HTTP. BitTorrent is the logical next step in the company's strategy to increase productivity and improve the overall Internet experience for end users. The Opera 9 TP2 will be made available soon and Opera emphasizes that the TP should be used for preview purposes only.
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