SPEEDbit's Blog | Video & Software Downloads

The Olympic Games are a festival of speed. Every four years the world’s greatest athletes assemble to compete against one another. With the eyes of the world focused on them, each athlete aims to break the limits of the possible and do something faster than it has ever been done before.

At SPEEDbit, we share the Olympic spirit; the drive to improve, to push the boundaries and do things faster, more efficiently and better than ever before.

How is SPEEDbit going to celebrate the spirit of the Olympic Games? Starting from Sunday August 5^th we will run a contest, a series of daily questions about the Olympics and SPEEDbit, on which you’ll have a chance to win free subscriptions to our SPEEDbit Video Accelerator Premium product!

SPEEDbit’s patented technology integrates easily with your browser eliminating buffering whilst streaming playback letting you enjoy faster, smoother playback from sites such as YouTube. Our technology works with over 165 popular video streaming sites eradicating frustrating pauses and interruptions.

The links to the daily questions will be published on our social accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Google plus. Answer the question correctly and you win our gold medal equivalent; a one month subscription to SPEEDbit Video Accelerator Premium product. For each question you answer correctly, you win a full one month’s subscription (the maximum prize is eight months’ free subscription).

Instructions on how to enter and the terms and conditions of the contest can be found on our on our website.
Good luck!

Times move on, and according to a survey led by the IPAF – the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation – 10 out of 100 Australians have stopped illegally downloading movies and other content from the Internet. That leaves 27 out of 100 still performing online downloads that infringe on the rights of the copyright holders. The 10% who no longer do, say that once they did engage in illegal online downloads, but have since ceased their activities. Out of these, 67% did so because they feared that their computers would be infected with viruses; 65% found that the range of legal online downloads meant they no longer had to seek the illegal ones; 61% stopped because of ethical reasons.

Rather than downloading movies, it seems that the ones still downloading illegal content prefer television online downloads through popular sites that offer online streaming. Yet, despite this activity, there are several legal options available, also growing in popularity. Such options that offer legal online downloads include Netflix, Hulu and iView.

Interesting to note is that after downloading movies in illegal form, more Australians than in the previous year were then willing to pay for the same content – by other renting or buying the official DVD. As well, after downloading movies or watching the online streaming version of a TV show, more were willing to pay for streaming the show.

More than half of those surveyed claim that $2.99 is a price they would meet to download a TV show legally, rather than illegally. Of those who are downloading movies or watching online streaming at least once a week, however, only 22% were willing to pay. When the price was upped to $5.99 for downloading movies, the number willing to pay dropped to 48%, and the number of weekly downloaders willing to pay dropped to 19%.

The belief of IPAF is that after their ISPs intervene, people will change their behavior in regards to downloading movies and watching online streaming. So it might come to pass that ISPs will take a more proactive approach in warning their customers that such activities are both unethical and illegal. Apparently in the United States, such illegal online streaming is becoming less frequent, perhaps due to the wide variety of legal content that can be found. If such content is made more available in Australia, we might see a similar drop in the infringements of copyrighted material.

If you haven’t already heard, for video streaming there are a wide range of new TVs on the market. Called Smart TVs, you connect them up to the Internet and your personal computer, and can stream YouTube videos, movies and other video files to your heart’s content.

If you are looking for the best system around, there really isn’t one – the question is rather, what is the best system for your particular video streaming needs? You’ll find that each one offers its own particular features, interface capability and more. The higher end systems will provide better functionality and cost more, the cheaper systems might not give you everything you want – you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of budget versus quality in choosing your ideal smart TV system for watching YouTube videos and more.

Some of them come with apps already built in, and many will allow you to purchase additional apps to enhance your screening time. You’ll find they enable you to watch YouTube videos or the BBC’s iplayer; some may have apps for social media websites like Twitter and Facebook. For users who like to use movie rental services, there are apps for services like Netflix and FetchTV.

Which brand to go with? Well, the safest bet is probably going with a well known, tried and true manufacturer like Samsung, Sony or Panasonic. And when purchasing, be sure to check out whether or not you receive a web browser as part of the bundle – this will allow you to visit the websites of your choice, rather than being limited to the content the manufacturer has decided you should have access to. But be warned – browsing the Internet from a Smart TV as well as watching YouTube videos are not the same experiences as when using your PC. Both speed and quality in Smart TVs have a way to go before they reach what we’ve become accustomed to. In addition, you may be disappointed when you go to stream an embedded video and find that you don’t have the proper support. And after all, what did you purchase a Smart TV for, if not to be able to download video files and engage in video streaming at will?

One solution for this is to use your Smart phone. By finding the site you want there, you can send the video files to the TV with a hand gesture, allowing you to watch them in larger than life, living color. Does this kind of video streaming sound like science fiction? No more. Voice and motion control to manage one’s entertainment center are here and seem bound to be the way of the future.

When we sign up for an Internet service provider, we purchase a package with a specific download and upload speed. Many users would be shocked – and horrified – to discover that what they are getting is in fact not what they paid for.

You might notice from time to time that it seems your downloads are taking an awfully long time. There could be several reasons for this, one of them being that your ISP is actually not providing you with the agreed-upon speed. Verifying if this is the case is actually quite simple – you just need to do an upload and download speed test. These will measure the rates at which your computer is downloading and uploading files. Besides letting you know if you need to knock on the door of your ISP and call them to order, it will also let you know if changes you have made to the way your network is set up have made any noticeable difference in download and upload speed.

There is no shortage of options on the Internet to do such a test. They are free and can be found at many sources. One is located at broadband.gov. A gift to the public by the US Federal Communications Commission, this is more than just a download speed test: it measures several aspects of your connection to the Internet, including upload speed and latency. It gives you results at the end of the test and keeps records in its own filing system so as to get a greater picture of the quality of broadband services across the nation.

Another option is Dan Elwell’s Broadband Speed Test. This one works differently from other Internet-based programs that offer a download speed test, in that it works with Windows directly, rather than over the web. It’s probably the one to go with if you are still working from an older model computer.

Possibly one of the most well-known places to do your download speed test is at Speedtest.net. This program checks upload speed and download speed, though it offers less data on your network latency. As well, since they use multiple channels, the speed reading that you receive may not be the actual speed you are getting from your ISP – unless you use SPEEDbit.

One of the longest existing download speed test programs on the web today is CNET Bandwidth Meter. Simple to work with, it downloads a file to your computer and calculates the bandwidth based on that. And one of the more modern and diverse download speed test services you can find today is Dslreports.com. The company vows that their product is one of the most highly accurate available, and they even offer tests for mobile phone users, as well as giving the standard tests for download and upload speed. Users with slow CPUs however might want to run a parallel test that is not based on an interface built with Flash, since this may skew the results.

Whichever you choose, it’s a wise move to check your download and upload speed through a simple download speed test. You’ll know what you need to do to increase speed and performance, and ensure that you are in fact getting your money’s worth from your ISP.

Where will you be on Euro 2012 Championship? Hopefully not waiting for an online video website to finish buffering.

As the Euro 2012 opening game approaches, it is time to equip your computer with SPEEDbit Video Accelerator.

We know that even if you are a fanatic football fan, you will not be able to stop your life and sit in front of the TV all day long, and we are certain that you do not want to miss the beautiful goals being stuck in front of a buffering screen…

That is why we are offering you to download our free video accelerator for a guaranteed smooth and uninterrupted viewing of the Euro 2012 games.

SPEEDbit Video Accelerator 3.3.1.0 supports over 165 video sites including several sports channels such as EA-sport, ESPN, The SUN, which are highly recommended by us. SPEEDbit Video Accelerator also supports the following sports video sites: Uefa.com, Ronaldo7.net, Livesoccertv.com and Guardian.co.uk.

SPEEDbit Video Accelerator is a powerful tool that lets you watch internet videos at the fastest possible speeds without the pauses and delays typical to online streaming. SPEEDbit Video Accelerator downloads movies from multiple sources at the same time and by that, download and playback speed is improved significantly.

Once you install Video Accelerator, it configures itself automatically, and you can immediately watch Euro 2012 games at accelerated speed.

Image by sharatjaswal.com

From now until June 11th, users can purchase the new DAP 10 Premium software solutions at a fraction of the regular price. Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) provides extreme acceleration, tools that include AdFree and Premium Privacy, one year of free upgrades and premium support. Price: $14.95, reduced from $39.95 – a savings of $25.00.

DAP Premium users have the advantage of several premium features, not available to downloaders of the free download manager version of DAP. This includes unlimited usage of the DAP Link Checker, which saves the user valuable time by preventing the download attempts of broken links or expired files.

It also includes Premium Acceleration, a feature that employs as many as 10 connections simultaneously to achieve the fastest possible speeds during downloading.
Premium Privacy Tools are valuable for any movie downloader, ensuring the user’s privacy by shredding files and removing all traces of downloading – as well as the option to lock and hide files after download. Premium Download Experience includes ZIP Preview, with which the user can view their ZIP files even as they are downloading.

Finally, the Premium Support offered by DAP Premium – known as Gold Support – means that when the user is in need, DAP specialists are there to help. In addition, for an entire year, premium owners, can download any upgrades released.
This ensures that their version of Download Accelerator Plus ( DAP) remains up to date and as advanced as possible. While DAP 10 free download manager has a great deal to offer, those users who seek extra features and first-class support service have a few days to take advantage of these highly attractive sale prices on DAP 10 Premium.

Click here for DAP10 Premium on Sale