The 2008 British Technology Awards winner iPhone has oodles of updates that sedate and excite the multitude of iPhone users around the globe. Latest iPhone updates range from making the hardware more user friendly to making it more of a pocket PC than a mere mobile phone that can play mean sounds.

And now, what other latest iPhone updates are being concocted for this one of a kind mobile and multimedia phone that took the world by a storm and shook a lot of Blackberry users to switch to a sleeker and sexier gadget?

Well, one update that I cannot get over with which may not be much of an update to some is that Apple officially told the world about third party applications not only for the iPhone but also for the iTouch.

Steve Jobs actually made this shout out to the Apple iPhone community back in 2007 when he placed a note on the “Apple Hot News” site. He said that they will be having and SDK sent to the developers and that they are also rooting for the development of third party applications for the iPhone.

Steve Jobs, if you only knew how much everyone else is also “rooting” (actually a better term is clamoring) for third party apps for your wonderfully designed gadget.

He continued to say that they are all very enthusiastic in having a community of developers for said third party apps for us to have bucket loads of applications to use. The iPhone, he said, is perfect for third party apps due to its powerful capacity, state of the art software and touch screen capability.

We could not agree more. The iPhone is really ripe for the picking, even from the start, for developers to go wild and offer us Apple ready applications so we can drive this mobile platform to maximize its potential and suit our daily communication, multimedia and work needs.

Steve Jobs backpedaled to the reason why it took a long time for them to finally release the SDK to the developers back in February because they were making sure that the platform will become resistant to the terrors of the non-Mac platforms – viruses, spy ware and other malicious wares.

This platform will be requiring something that Nokia also requires, a so-called “digital signature” that makes applications confirm that they are from a reputable source or developer.

Of course, the third party applications for the iPhone and the iTouch will still need to go through rigorous testing by Apple and will be controlled by them. These applications, once developed will also most likely be sold only through the iTunes hub or stores.

This and many more latest iPhone updates are being concocted by the Apple people to keep us iPhone users excited and keep our iPhone by our belt side. Although the iPhone’s somewhat limited capacity (relative to other top generation phones) keeps on tempting us to get it unlocked, it is on its way to becoming the versatile mobile phone of our wildest imagination.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Similarity-Enhanced Transfer was developed to help speed up the transfer process between nodes in the file sharing network. The way it works, is it looks for chunks of data that are exact or an almost exact copy of what the client application is looking for. This technique is known as hand printing and it is basically looking for the data the file needs to be completed. By looking for and downloading similar chunks, you can actually improve the download time by 71%. The lower the SET filter is set, the more similar pieces it can find and therefore the number of connections that can be made. This is important as while you are downloading a file, you can suffer lags in between connection while the client application is looking for exact matches. By lowering the SET limit, you can then close these soft spots or lagging download points drastically which if figure out over the length of the entire download, you can increase the download time by up to 71%.

However, on popular data, the SET will most likely not help your download capabilities as these are limited by your ISP. However, when it comes to less popular files that have little seeds available, you can then increase this download time drastically whi will make it worth the effort.

The SET was developed by a joint effort between Professor David Andersen, Himabindu Pucha and Dr. Michael Kaminsky. After the development of this file sharing protocol, it would later be integrated into the bit torrent protocol. It is for this reason, that the bit torrent client applications are very expedient when it comes to downloading files. This also plays an important role in the development if the bit torrent protocol’s rarest first paradigm. In the rarest first technique, the client application will hunt down the rarest portions of the requested file first using the SET concept, therefore making the rarest portion, the least rarest and this will continue indefinitely until a medium is found in which all the pieces of data have the same availability. Or until you finish downloading the file!

There are many other concepts that have been envisioned into the development of the bit torrent protocol to help with its popularity and speed. Regardless of the underlying technology involved, the bit torrent protocol is now considered to be the most popular file sharing protocol in the world. Users can be found in any country that has a public internet access. Yes, there are still some in which the citizens do not have sufficient, or any internet access at all. Some of these reasons for the lacking can be as simple as cost, while others may be due to government constraints and control on its people. None the less, the bit torrent network is still considered to be the largest community on the web and in the world to date.

Popularity: 23% [?]

To talk about the history of the bit torrent protocol and P2P file sharing, you cannot just simply start off with the P2P protocol, but rather like many stories, you have to start at the beginning.

1972 marked the birth of the file sharing revolution. This first form of peer file sharing was aptly known as Sneakerner due to the lack of interne access at the time. Sneakernet was exactly as it sounds, one would place a file on a floppy and deliver it in person or via mail.

It would be 6 years latter at the birth of the internet era that the first BBS would become available in 1978. Although back then the sharing of actual files was harder than it is today, the concept was there. It would not be until 2 years later that the BBS would evolve into the Usenet thanks to the development by Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott at Duke University.

1985 however, marked an important year to the file sharing idea. It was this same year that the File Transfer Protocol or FTP would be developed allowing people to share files via a centralized server.

Three years later the Internet Relay Chat was developed and replaced the MultiUser Talk protocol allowing for faster communications with others, starting the need for faster communications, this eventually led to the development of what is known as the World Wide Web today as it was developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.

The next big thing in the file sharing arena was not PC, but it was Mac. Hotline was the file sharing network as it was introduced at the MacWorld Expo in 1997 and became the number one file sharing vehicle for the various Mac users around the world.

1998 marked the birth of MP3.COM as well as the release of the world’s first MP3 player which led MP3 Newswire to become the first digital media sharing website. It was with the birth of the MP3 and the need to convert music tracks to MP3 that would lead to the birth of the digital copyright infringement.

A year latter, Napster was to take the central stage as a completely illegal website that allowed someone to make a MP3 file of their favorite song and share it with others, this led to not just lawsuits, but several teenagers now have criminal records due to their downloading habits.

It was not until 2000 when the first decentralized file sharing network was developed. This decentralized network was the Gnutella-network and led to the birth of a new idealism in file sharing around the world.

Two years later, the bit torrent protocol would be debut to the world, and eventually take a choke-hold on the file sharing technology around the world.

Popularity: 79% [?]

Believe it or not, the bit torrent protocol is not old, not even in the standards of computer where you processor is out dated the minute you buy it. The protocol itself was originally conceptualized in the earl 2000’s and was released in the first working bit torrent client application in 2005.

Of course the first bit torrent client was the one that shares the name with the protocol itself. BitTorrent is the owner of the bit torrent protocol that can be seen almost anywhere and in virtually every possible programming language. There are some exceptions to this of course. Firstly, JavaScript cannot in any way shape or form be used to build a bit torrent client, it just cannot happen due to the rules of the programming language itself. HTTP cannot be used to make a bit torrent client neither since the client needs the ability to read and write. When discussing the possibilities of programming languages that can be used, the first thing that comes to mind are the web based programs. Since the protocol requires access to read and write, the only web based languages that can be used, are the ones that can access and write to databases. These include PHP and ASP as well as many other, but in no way can you use Java or JavaScript.

On the other hand, bit torrent clients for use on your computer is even more broad as virtually any program running on your computer can also read and write to directories on your computer.

Although the history of the bit torrent protocol is fairly short, it is in no way empty as there have been a number of important advancements in the development of the bit torrent protocol since its inception.

From simple to complete overhauls, the bit torrent protocol has come a long way in a short time period. New advancements in encryption capabilities as well as new languages to build the code on. Needless to say, as long as there is a want for file sharing, the bit torrent protocol will continue to be developed and advanced well into this century and hopefully then some.

To discuss the entire history of the bit torrent protocol, one would need a lot more space to do it in, but most of it can be found at the designer’s website. The BitTorrent program is the original bit torrent client and therefore almost all parts of the bit torrent history can be traced to various updates and releases of this particular bit torrent client application.

The bit torrent protocol as well as the many number of bit torrent client applications is vast and will continue to advance as new problems arise. Every time there is an attempt to stop the bit torrent protocol, it is redeveloped. ISPs want to stop bit torrent traffic so they attempt to throttle it, in response, new encryptions are made. This is the story of the bit torrent protocol, and as time goes by, it will continue to adapt to its surroundings and the needs of the network’s users.

Popularity: 23% [?]

When file sharing through a peer-to-peer network first started, it was very centralized. In other words, a user who wished to share a file with others, would then have to upload that file to a server so that others could access it through that same server. Back then, there were no nodes, one computer would not talk and download a file from another computer, unless you are counting the server as that other computer.

From there, if you were looking for a file, you would basically type in your search requirements and if it was available, you could start downloading it directly from the server as the file was located there and not on the creator’s personal computer. Napster was probably one of the most famous of these centralized servers.

Napster became immensely popular shortly after the development of the MP3 file format, and subsequently, allowed people to share their favorite song with others via the MP3 format. Unfortunately, this was piracy and illegal. Eventually Napster was shut down, and several teenage users faced criminal prosecution for their “piracy.” Since then, Napster has then changed to a paid service and now offers high quality MP3 soundtracks for it clients. Napster today is still centralized, but due to the fact that it is now a paid service, it can no longer be in the category with the peer-to-peer file sharing. Once upon a time, it was sharing of files, but today, you are buying the files.

There are a number of services out there today offering the same centralized service, but this is not to be confused with file sharing. If you have to pay for the file, then you are not sharing it you are buying it. Some of the “Non” file sharing services now include Napster, Lime-Wire, Real and I-Pod. By technicality, these are not file sharing, as if they were sharing the file, you would not get charged for it.

File sharing is free, if you pay for it, regardless as to the price, you are paying too much.

Basically, according to these standards, you have only a few remaining protocols that can fall under file sharing. Obviously, the bit torrent protocol falls under file sharing, regardless as to the name of the application. Another is Magnet, while at the same time, another program called Ares allows for file sharing, the program is free, it allows you to not only view the movies and hear the music files, but it allows you to do this while you are in the middle of the download.

There are also a number of other protocols out there today, but the less know the protocol is, the smaller the network is. The bit torrent network is the largest in the world. On one popular file alone, you can expect to see over 1,000 if not ten times that amount of sources available.

Use your head when using a bit torrent though. If you decide to download files that you know are copyrighted, do not be surprised if some day, you get a nice little letter from the owner of that data.

Popularity: 18% [?]