Tag Archives: peer to peer

OnStar seals partnership with RelayRides, makes renting out your car even easier (hands-on video)

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OnStar seals partnership with RelayRides, makes renting your car even easier

Remember that partnership between OnStar and RelayRides we wrote about last March? Well it's finally coming to fruition today, with the peer-to-peer car sharing service launching support for remote door unlocking via OnStar's proprietary API. As a result, RelayRides members with OnStar-enabled vehicles no longer have to exchange keys in person if they so choose. Another benefit is that participants can list their automobile on RelayRides directly from their OnStar account -- renters then benefit from the added safety and security that comes with OnStar.

We had the chance to test an early version of the functionality on a Chevy Volt at SXSW a few months ago and it worked pretty much as advertised. There was a bit of a delay between the time we sent the unlock command from RelayRides' website on the demo iPad and the moment the doors actually unlocked on the car, but we're told this has been significantly improved since our hands-on. Of course, RelayRides also supports remote unlocking via text message. Take a look at the galleries below then hit the break for our hands-on video, RelayRides' video and OnStar's PR.

Gallery: RelayRides with OnStar hands-on

Gallery: RelayRides with OnStar PR

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OnStar seals partnership with RelayRides, makes renting out your car even easier (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale

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BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale

Almost without fail, BitTorrent downloads have had to spread through a dedicated client, whether it's on the desktop or a router. Thankfully, BitTorrent Torque has just come in alpha form to liberate the peer download service from its software chains. All that's needed now is a web browser that can parse a JavaScript app. Going the new route gives some freedom to enable sharing that hasn't always been practical: among the tricks in the company's Torque Labs are drag-and-drop sharing, conversion of torrents into traditional downloads and easing the burden on a server for video streaming. The alpha stage leaves Torque with awhile to go before it's ready for the limelight, but experimenters can hit the source link to start tinkering with distributed file sharing today.

BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google files for a patent on peer-to-peer location finding, says cell tower triangulation is for chumps

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Google files for a patent on peertopeer location finding, says cell tower triangulation is for chumps

Crowdsourcing map data itself isn't a surprise; it's been the cornerstone of OpenStreetMap and is about to get a big boost through iOS 6. Crowdsourcing actual positions is still a relatively untapped resource, however, and Google thinks that it might just be the ticket to getting a device's location when GPS alone doesn't cut it. Much as your current phone uses triangulation between cell sites to help speed up a position lock, a technique in a new Google patent application uses the physical distances between nearby devices to get a complete picture, even if GPS is completely on the fritz. The peer-to-peer technique still needs an internet connection to reach the central service piecing information together -- there isn't much help if you're in areas where reliable internet access isn't always guaranteed. Likewise, there's no certainty that Google will use the patent in a future build of Android or Chrome OS. If it does, though, at least some of us may say goodbye to the days of our map positioning going haywire the moment we drive through a tunnel or step into an office without WiFi.

Google files for a patent on peer-to-peer location finding, says cell tower triangulation is for chumps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Airtime lets you share media while you video chat, reminds you That Napster Guy is still around

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Airtime lets you share clips while you video chat, reminds you That Napster Guy is still around

Hey, remember the guy that created Napster, Shawn Fanning? Do you remember Facebook co-founder (and supposed Justin Timberlake doppelganger) Sean Parker? Good, as that'll make it easier to understand why the two have created Airtime, a heavily hyped new peer-to-peer video chat service. The aim is to offer a one-on-one conversation that helps people understand each other, with shared interests and the ability to quickly fling that LOLcat video to a friend or significant other. It's launching first on Facebook, which is nothing new for video chat, but the absence of any in-between servers and special plugins beyond Flash eliminates a lot of the usual hurdles. More features are coming in the near future, including a decidedly Flash-free iOS app, music streaming and games -- leaving us with considerably more things to do while we reconnect, or at least a more engaging way to reminisce about the Napster days.

Airtime lets you share media while you video chat, reminds you That Napster Guy is still around originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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