Thursday, October 06, 2016
Monday, September 12, 2016
Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2016
NEWS
Posting a list of the world’s most-visited torrent sites has been a long-standing tradition at TF, which we continue today. At the start of 2016 KickassTorrents is pulling in most traffic followed by The Pirate Bay. A lot of things have happened over the past year, with some torrent sites disappearing from the scene and others taking their place.
Most file-sharers are creatures of habit, but when their favorite site disappears they gladly hop over to the next one.
This is also reflected in our annual top 10 torrent sites with the most traffic, which sees the usual names on top but also features some dubious newcomers.
One of the major changes came with the hostile takeover of the popular TV-torrent site EZTV. This prompted the popular TV-torrent distribution group to shut down last May. Another group took over the popular brand and continued with their own ‘unofficial’ EZTV releases. We therefore marked the site as a newcomer.
Something similar happened to YIFY’s YTS website, when its New Zealand-based admin ran into legal trouble. The official YTS website shut down but it was quickly replaced by the “unofficial” YTS.ag, which gathered a large user-base over the past two months.
Apparently, most torrent users are happy as long as they can get their fix, no matter what the source is.
KickassTorrents (KAT) remains the most visited torrent site and continues to grow. The Pirate Bay is listed in second place and made a strong comeback after nearly two months of downtime spanning the turn of the year. Since the site has been operating from several domain names until a few days ago, we chose not to list an Alexa rank.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Rutracker would have made it into the top five based on the number of visitors. However, we choose to only include English language content sites.
Below is the full list of the top 10 most-visited torrent sites at the start of the new year. The list is based on various traffic reports and we display the Alexa rank for each. In addition, we include last year’s ranking for each of the 10 sites.
MOST POPULAR TORRENT SITES
1. KICKASSTORRENTS
(update July 2016: KAT is down)
KickassTorrents was founded in 2009 and surpassed The Pirate Bay in traffic last year. Battling various censorship efforts the site has burned through a few different domain names over the years. Most recently itswitched to a Costa Rican .cr domain after it lost its Somalian .so address.
KickassTorrents was founded in 2009 and surpassed The Pirate Bay in traffic last year. Battling various censorship efforts the site has burned through a few different domain names over the years. Most recently itswitched to a Costa Rican .cr domain after it lost its Somalian .so address.
ALEXA RANK: 85 / LAST YEAR #1
2. THE PIRATE BAY
The Pirate Bay is one of the main piracy icons. The torrent site wasn’t online at the beginning of 2015 and had to deal with a staff revolt. However, it quickly regained millions of users after a successful comeback operating from a hydra of domain names until last week.
ALEXA RANK: NA / COMPETE RANK: NA / LAST YEAR #4
3. EXTRATORRENT
ExtraTorrent continues to gain more traffic and has become one of the most active torrent communities. The site is also the home of the popular ETTV and ETRG release groups.
ALEXA RANK: 342 / LAST YEAR #3
4. TORRENTZ
(Update August 2016: Torrentz has shut down)
Torrentz has been the leading BitTorrent meta-search engine for many years. Unlike the other sites featured in the list Torrentz does not host any torrent files or magnet links, but redirects visitors to other places on the web. The site uses several domain names with .eu being the most popular.
Torrentz has been the leading BitTorrent meta-search engine for many years. Unlike the other sites featured in the list Torrentz does not host any torrent files or magnet links, but redirects visitors to other places on the web. The site uses several domain names with .eu being the most popular.
ALEXA RANK: 351 / LAST YEAR #2
5. RARBG
RARBG, which started out as a Bulgarian tracker, was last year’s newcomer and continues to rake in more visitors. The site was blocked by UK ISPs last year, which put it on par with most other sites in the top 10.
ALEXA RANK: 1,101 / LAST YEAR #7
6. 1337X
1337x has traditionally been a community driven torrent site but several weeks ago most of the admins and moderators abandoned ship over security concerns. The coming year it will become clear whether 1337x can keep its popular status.
ALEXA RANK: 1,249 / LAST YEAR #9
7. EZTV.AG
TV-torrent distribution group EZTV shut down earlier this year after a hostile takeover. The site continued to operate under new ownership and releases its own torrents now. In solidarity with the original owners several large torrent sites have banned these ‘new’ releases from their sites.
ALEXA RANK: 1,373 / LAST YEAR #NA
8. TORRENTHOUND
TorrentHound has been around since the last decade but is a newcomer in the top 10. It has also been on the radar of copyright holders this year. The torrent site is blocked in several countries and was reported as a piracy haven to the U.S. government, alongside many other sites in this list.
ALEXA RANK: 2,239 / LAST YEAR #NA
9. YTS.AG
YTS.ag has nothing to do with the original YTS or YIFY group, but aims to take its place. As with the new EZTV, several large torrent sites are not allowing the group to use the YIFY or YTS brands on their sites.
ALEXA RANK: 740 / COMPETE RANK: 4,271 / LAST YEAR #NA
10. TORRENTDOWNLOADS
TorrentDownloads has been around for several years. The torrent site regained a spot in the top 10 this year after it was featured for the last time in 2011. It’s a no-nonsense index that provides torrents to millions of users each month.
ALEXA RANK: 2,969 / LAST YEAR #NA
Disclaimer: Yes, we know that Alexa isn’t perfect and that Compete has plenty of flaws, but when combined both do a pretty good job at comparing sites that operate in a similar niche.
Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2016
NEWS
Posting a list of the world’s most-visited torrent sites has been a long-standing tradition at TF, which we continue today. At the start of 2016 KickassTorrents is pulling in most traffic followed by The Pirate Bay. A lot of things have happened over the past year, with some torrent sites disappearing from the scene and others taking their place.
Most file-sharers are creatures of habit, but when their favorite site disappears they gladly hop over to the next one.
This is also reflected in our annual top 10 torrent sites with the most traffic, which sees the usual names on top but also features some dubious newcomers.
One of the major changes came with the hostile takeover of the popular TV-torrent site EZTV. This prompted the popular TV-torrent distribution group to shut down last May. Another group took over the popular brand and continued with their own ‘unofficial’ EZTV releases. We therefore marked the site as a newcomer.
Something similar happened to YIFY’s YTS website, when its New Zealand-based admin ran into legal trouble. The official YTS website shut down but it was quickly replaced by the “unofficial” YTS.ag, which gathered a large user-base over the past two months.
Apparently, most torrent users are happy as long as they can get their fix, no matter what the source is.
KickassTorrents (KAT) remains the most visited torrent site and continues to grow. The Pirate Bay is listed in second place and made a strong comeback after nearly two months of downtime spanning the turn of the year. Since the site has been operating from several domain names until a few days ago, we chose not to list an Alexa rank.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Rutracker would have made it into the top five based on the number of visitors. However, we choose to only include English language content sites.
Below is the full list of the top 10 most-visited torrent sites at the start of the new year. The list is based on various traffic reports and we display the Alexa rank for each. In addition, we include last year’s ranking for each of the 10 sites.
MOST POPULAR TORRENT SITES
1. KICKASSTORRENTS
(update July 2016: KAT is down)
KickassTorrents was founded in 2009 and surpassed The Pirate Bay in traffic last year. Battling various censorship efforts the site has burned through a few different domain names over the years. Most recently itswitched to a Costa Rican .cr domain after it lost its Somalian .so address.
KickassTorrents was founded in 2009 and surpassed The Pirate Bay in traffic last year. Battling various censorship efforts the site has burned through a few different domain names over the years. Most recently itswitched to a Costa Rican .cr domain after it lost its Somalian .so address.
ALEXA RANK: 85 / LAST YEAR #1
2. THE PIRATE BAY
The Pirate Bay is one of the main piracy icons. The torrent site wasn’t online at the beginning of 2015 and had to deal with a staff revolt. However, it quickly regained millions of users after a successful comeback operating from a hydra of domain names until last week.
ALEXA RANK: NA / COMPETE RANK: NA / LAST YEAR #4
3. EXTRATORRENT
ExtraTorrent continues to gain more traffic and has become one of the most active torrent communities. The site is also the home of the popular ETTV and ETRG release groups.
ALEXA RANK: 342 / LAST YEAR #3
4. TORRENTZ
(Update August 2016: Torrentz has shut down)
Torrentz has been the leading BitTorrent meta-search engine for many years. Unlike the other sites featured in the list Torrentz does not host any torrent files or magnet links, but redirects visitors to other places on the web. The site uses several domain names with .eu being the most popular.
Torrentz has been the leading BitTorrent meta-search engine for many years. Unlike the other sites featured in the list Torrentz does not host any torrent files or magnet links, but redirects visitors to other places on the web. The site uses several domain names with .eu being the most popular.
ALEXA RANK: 351 / LAST YEAR #2
5. RARBG
RARBG, which started out as a Bulgarian tracker, was last year’s newcomer and continues to rake in more visitors. The site was blocked by UK ISPs last year, which put it on par with most other sites in the top 10.
ALEXA RANK: 1,101 / LAST YEAR #7
6. 1337X
1337x has traditionally been a community driven torrent site but several weeks ago most of the admins and moderators abandoned ship over security concerns. The coming year it will become clear whether 1337x can keep its popular status.
ALEXA RANK: 1,249 / LAST YEAR #9
7. EZTV.AG
TV-torrent distribution group EZTV shut down earlier this year after a hostile takeover. The site continued to operate under new ownership and releases its own torrents now. In solidarity with the original owners several large torrent sites have banned these ‘new’ releases from their sites.
ALEXA RANK: 1,373 / LAST YEAR #NA
8. TORRENTHOUND
TorrentHound has been around since the last decade but is a newcomer in the top 10. It has also been on the radar of copyright holders this year. The torrent site is blocked in several countries and was reported as a piracy haven to the U.S. government, alongside many other sites in this list.
ALEXA RANK: 2,239 / LAST YEAR #NA
9. YTS.AG
YTS.ag has nothing to do with the original YTS or YIFY group, but aims to take its place. As with the new EZTV, several large torrent sites are not allowing the group to use the YIFY or YTS brands on their sites.
ALEXA RANK: 740 / COMPETE RANK: 4,271 / LAST YEAR #NA
10. TORRENTDOWNLOADS
TorrentDownloads has been around for several years. The torrent site regained a spot in the top 10 this year after it was featured for the last time in 2011. It’s a no-nonsense index that provides torrents to millions of users each month.
ALEXA RANK: 2,969 / LAST YEAR #NA
Disclaimer: Yes, we know that Alexa isn’t perfect and that Compete has plenty of flaws, but when combined both do a pretty good job at comparing sites that operate in a similar niche.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
How to Identify A Fake Samsung Galaxy Phone
Samsung smartphones are selling like hot cakes all over the world despite of what ever hardware they contain. Samsung are making lots of smartphones for all and each categories in short period of time that helped to make a internet quote "Another Day, Another Galaxy". While the consumers grabbing their Galaxy phones, Some local phone manufacturers take this opportunity to their advantage. There are number of Replicas to some iconic devices made by Samsung, which makes people confused which one is the original and which one is the fake or the clone.
Now This post is for all who want to know what are the differences between an original one and a replica, What are the advantages and flops of Buying a replica and ways to spot a replica. Here in Sri Lanka the latest Galaxy S4 clones are going for a price tag of Rs.25,000 which means around 190$-200$. So i mostly talking about the Galaxy S4 replicas which make sense, why all people wanna buy it. As the 2013 H1 flagship Galaxy S4 turned out to be a beast among the high end smartphones. All dreamed to have a one in their pockets including me. So if you are a Sri Lankan, better read this post i have written in Sinhala in my other blog. Korean Version vs Original Version (For Sri Lankans)
Difference Between a Clone and an Original Device
There are noticeable differences we can find under Hardware, Software and physical view. Lets see what are the physical differences we can spot.
What you see here is a low grade S4 clone. most easiest clones to spot. Home button is way below the screen, top and bottom bezels are huge, Samsung logo is big, Screen is not an edge to edge one,even it's not an 5 inch and the rear side features cheap plastic cover with pattern less design. Samsung branding could covered by a sticker as it can fade away when we scratch it. even the front side Samsung branding can be removed by few scratches. Battery is surely less than 2600mAh due to smaller dimensions of the phone.
This is the real deal. The above image shows one of the best 1:1 clones in the market. Meet HDC Galaxy S4 Legend. HDC mobiles is no doubt the best clone maker of Samsung handsets. As you can see, it's identical to the original S4 from physical overview. Latest version comes with a glass layer on top of the screen,so we can't scratch the logo off. screen goes edge to edge and features a real 5" screen, home button is on the right spot and back panel have those patterns that an original S4 have. it's an advantage for S4 Legend users they can use original S4's battery and casings thanks to the copying skills of HDC. These clones have only hardware and software differences although the type of plastic used is different.
On the Hardware Side Everything is different and cheap. Most S4 clones uses Mediatek processors clocking at 1.2Ghz, even though they are quad core or dual core chips, the architecture is Cortex-A7. Actually it's not bad for day to day use. but the problem comes when playing heavy graphics games and heavy multitasking.
Storage is limited to 8GB or usually 4GB, and from that around 2GB is user accessible. RAM is 1GB in most S4 clones but pre installed edited AnTuTu app shows different values. As i mentioned before, best clones are made by the Chinese phone manufacturer HDC. if you pay a visit to their HDC Mobiles.com website you can see how the things work. The following image is taken from their site.
These are the specifications of HDC Galaxy S4 Spark, Same conditions apply for S4 Legend. The screen is actually a 5" 720p IPS pannel. But in system info, it shows 1080p. And the Super AMOLED sticker on the phone will trick you thinking it really has a AMOLED panel. Like i said storage is 4GB and system shows 16GB. Batteries are the worst case. Clones bundles with 2 batteries in most scenarios. These batteries are showing 2600mAh but they don't have the real capacity. Original factory made S4 battery weights around 70g while clone batteries just 40g.
Camera in HDC legend is a 13MP shooter but takes verry noisy images. My 3.2MP camera in Nokia 6210 takes much better images than that. (link to a Sample image from HDC Galaxy Legend 13MP camera -Click Here )
From the software side, most clones run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Take another look at the spec sheet above. Android version is 4.2.9 what does that mean? There is no 4.2.9 version in Android 4.2.X series. The device could run 4.2.2 or 4.2.1 instead. HDC made custom UI is almost identical to Samsung's TouchWiz UI. Keep in mind you don't have split screen multi-window feature in clones although they have a side app bar.
Those are the major Hardware differences in Clones. Now if you already know you have purchased a replica let's see what are the advantages and down sides. For those who got a replica by cheating sellers who sells these phones as original, i feel sorry for them.
ADVANTAGES - Relatively newer version of Android covers your needs
Play Store Access
Feeble chipset and hardware but does your daily needs
Big screen entertainment and easy to type
Hardware parts are available
Original S4 battery can be used (Only with HDC S4 Legend)
FLOPS - No information about SAR values
Number of complains of bezel cracking
No NFC, Screen Protection
Low capacity batteries
Screen get's less sensitive and often dead pixels
No Genuine Software Tweaks,camera modes and some sensors.
No warranty / hard to claim warranty
Finally let's move on to spotting a Samsung replica
Most clones comes with a genuine wooden looking Samsung package. But inside contains flip covers and sometimes two batteries and small gadgets like USB card readers. Documentation and USB cable is present in the box but i have no idea about the headset whether it's a original or fake or about it's audio quality.
FINAL WORDS : If you want to buy an Original S4 from local store make sure to check the facts you saw in the post. If you owning an replica by purpose don't keep it in your pockets (specially males) for long time since we don't know about SAR values. If you want a buy a S4 replica, buy a HDC Legend and also buy factory made Samsung battery since it's the best clone available currently in the market. These factors apply for the other Samsung phones as well. But i wanted to talk specially about Galaxy S4 as it's the device most people wanted to get in their hands.
Difference Between a Clone and an Original Device
There are noticeable differences we can find under Hardware, Software and physical view. Lets see what are the physical differences we can spot.
What you see here is a low grade S4 clone. most easiest clones to spot. Home button is way below the screen, top and bottom bezels are huge, Samsung logo is big, Screen is not an edge to edge one,even it's not an 5 inch and the rear side features cheap plastic cover with pattern less design. Samsung branding could covered by a sticker as it can fade away when we scratch it. even the front side Samsung branding can be removed by few scratches. Battery is surely less than 2600mAh due to smaller dimensions of the phone.
This is the real deal. The above image shows one of the best 1:1 clones in the market. Meet HDC Galaxy S4 Legend. HDC mobiles is no doubt the best clone maker of Samsung handsets. As you can see, it's identical to the original S4 from physical overview. Latest version comes with a glass layer on top of the screen,so we can't scratch the logo off. screen goes edge to edge and features a real 5" screen, home button is on the right spot and back panel have those patterns that an original S4 have. it's an advantage for S4 Legend users they can use original S4's battery and casings thanks to the copying skills of HDC. These clones have only hardware and software differences although the type of plastic used is different.
On the Hardware Side Everything is different and cheap. Most S4 clones uses Mediatek processors clocking at 1.2Ghz, even though they are quad core or dual core chips, the architecture is Cortex-A7. Actually it's not bad for day to day use. but the problem comes when playing heavy graphics games and heavy multitasking.
Storage is limited to 8GB or usually 4GB, and from that around 2GB is user accessible. RAM is 1GB in most S4 clones but pre installed edited AnTuTu app shows different values. As i mentioned before, best clones are made by the Chinese phone manufacturer HDC. if you pay a visit to their HDC Mobiles.com website you can see how the things work. The following image is taken from their site.
These are the specifications of HDC Galaxy S4 Spark, Same conditions apply for S4 Legend. The screen is actually a 5" 720p IPS pannel. But in system info, it shows 1080p. And the Super AMOLED sticker on the phone will trick you thinking it really has a AMOLED panel. Like i said storage is 4GB and system shows 16GB. Batteries are the worst case. Clones bundles with 2 batteries in most scenarios. These batteries are showing 2600mAh but they don't have the real capacity. Original factory made S4 battery weights around 70g while clone batteries just 40g.
Camera in HDC legend is a 13MP shooter but takes verry noisy images. My 3.2MP camera in Nokia 6210 takes much better images than that. (link to a Sample image from HDC Galaxy Legend 13MP camera -Click Here )
From the software side, most clones run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Take another look at the spec sheet above. Android version is 4.2.9 what does that mean? There is no 4.2.9 version in Android 4.2.X series. The device could run 4.2.2 or 4.2.1 instead. HDC made custom UI is almost identical to Samsung's TouchWiz UI. Keep in mind you don't have split screen multi-window feature in clones although they have a side app bar.
Those are the major Hardware differences in Clones. Now if you already know you have purchased a replica let's see what are the advantages and down sides. For those who got a replica by cheating sellers who sells these phones as original, i feel sorry for them.
ADVANTAGES - Relatively newer version of Android covers your needs
Play Store Access
Feeble chipset and hardware but does your daily needs
Big screen entertainment and easy to type
Hardware parts are available
Original S4 battery can be used (Only with HDC S4 Legend)
FLOPS - No information about SAR values
Number of complains of bezel cracking
No NFC, Screen Protection
Low capacity batteries
Screen get's less sensitive and often dead pixels
No Genuine Software Tweaks,camera modes and some sensors.
No warranty / hard to claim warranty
Finally let's move on to spotting a Samsung replica
Most clones comes with a genuine wooden looking Samsung package. But inside contains flip covers and sometimes two batteries and small gadgets like USB card readers. Documentation and USB cable is present in the box but i have no idea about the headset whether it's a original or fake or about it's audio quality.
These HDC phones are manufactured to work with Samsung codes like *#0*# but try to see if all things work by this LCD test code. if nothing happens for that code it's a replica.
Type some codes used in original Samsung phones
*#1234# (View SW Version PDA, CSC, MODEM)
*#0*# (General Test Mode)
*#12580369# (SW & HW Info)
*#197328640# (Service Mode)
*#0228# (ADC Reading)
*#32489# (Ciphering Info)
*#232337# (Bluetooth Address)
*#232331# (Bluetooth Test Mode)
If these codes are working, then it is an original one.
From the screen you can also identify a replica and for that you must have a knowledge about AMOLED screens. take this image for an example,
AMOLED screens have a deep vibrant colors while clones with normal TFT LCD or IPS LCD has whitish bright colors.
You can also check a Samsung phone with a micro USB Jig. One the jig is connected to your phone (Phone should be switched off before connecting the jig) it turns on and put the phone in to Download mode. if it isn't getting to download mode it's a replica
If the Baseband version is starting from "MAUI" or the Android version shows not official release,something like 4.2.9 like we saw above ,that's a replica too
And some replicas shows Android version as a latest but the build number shows what's really installed. see the image above. Android version is Android 4.2.2 but the build number is GINGERBREAD.25KJB which means it runs Android 2.3.x version.
Finally by removing the back cover you can spot a replica as shown in the image below.
Note : Most HDC clones comes under "Made in Korea By Samsung" manufacturer statement but it's Chinese for real.
FINAL WORDS : If you want to buy an Original S4 from local store make sure to check the facts you saw in the post. If you owning an replica by purpose don't keep it in your pockets (specially males) for long time since we don't know about SAR values. If you want a buy a S4 replica, buy a HDC Legend and also buy factory made Samsung battery since it's the best clone available currently in the market. These factors apply for the other Samsung phones as well. But i wanted to talk specially about Galaxy S4 as it's the device most people wanted to get in their hands.
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