| New Toolbar enhances DAP's
persistent desktop presence and allows its 22,000,000
registered users to easily manage accelerated and
reliable downloads.
Haifa, June 18, 2001 - SpeedBit (www.SpeedBit.com)
today announced the release of version 5.0 of its premiere
product, Download Accelerator Plus. The new version
will be exclusively launched at CNET's Download.com,
where DAP continues to be one of the most popular
PC downloads for over a year.
DAP's popularity is spread strictly by word
of mouth and user recommendations, and nearly 2 million
new users register every month, reflecting keen interest
in DAP as the preferred delivery platform to
download millions of rich media files every day, including
software, games, movies and music.
DAP Core Functionality
DAP allows file delivery in a highly accelerated
and reliable manner - up to 200%-400% faster, according
to users' comments and professional reviews. It detects
mirror sites that host the requested file, determines
which servers will be fastest for the specific user's
location, and then initiates a multi-connection multi-server
download process. This allows users to obtain maximum
benefit from available bandwidth. SpeedBit has two patent
applications pending regarding DAP's core technology.
DAP's client-side optimization takes advantage
of actual overall conditions of the network (with load
balancing and fault tolerance), and of the deployed
storage and mirror servers at the time of use as seen
from the user's location, thus extending the delivery
optimization chain to its true edge - the user's PC.
The New Version
One of DAP 5.0's many new features is an integrated
toolbar that allows users to more conveniently mange
their download from within their browser (IE). This
new "dashboard" eases access to important
DAP functions and includes a new Leecher and
Links highlighter for broad and fast coverage of the
available URLs from which files may be downloaded.
"The new version also demonstrates how various
services may be offered during or after the download
process. Currently we offer a Reviews service
where users can share opinions about downloaded
content. Similarly, content owners like record companies
and movie studios may use DAP to offer additional
services such as music and movie recommendations, how-to-purchase
information, and so on," said Yossi Vardi, an investor
in the company and founding investor of ICQ (which was
acquired by AOL).
Boost for Digital Content Subscription Model
Future versions of DAP's delivery platform will
enable users to subscribe to a variety of predefined
subscription channels. Whenever there is a new item
(song / movie / software / game / news etc.) subscribers
will receive it directly to their PCs according to their
schedule preferences. DAP transparency to various
Digital Rights Management (DRM) protocols will allow
content providers to offer paid-for subscriptions.
"DAP is developing into a perfect platform
for offering subscriptions for rich media content. Our
fast-growing user base is comprised of frequent downloaders
who are likely to be early adopters of various digital
content subscription plans. DAP's subscription
functionality allows delivery of the content with no
user intervention, directing the users to the most responsive
servers, balancing server load and reducing bandwidth
costs," says Idan Feigenbaum, SpeedBit's CTO and
Cofounder.
About SpeedBit
SpeedBit is a privately held company founded
at the end of 1999 by a young Israeli programmer, Idan
Feigenbaum, and his father Yerach. It has received funding
from investors Yossi Vardi and STI Ventures, an international
early-stage investment company, with an emphasis on
Israeli technology. Strategic investors in STI Ventures
are Softbank, Comverse Technology and Pacific Capital
Group. |
