March 22, 2008 by sharky
Could Omemo be the next big thing that file sharers are looking for? Perhaps. We took it for a spin to see for ourselves.
What is it?
Omemo is a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that stores files on a virtual hard drive online. The service requires that users donate a small portion of the space on their hard drives, which are combined to form a collective virtual network. Shared files are not saved on the users’ hard drives; rather, the space is donated to the Omemo P2P network in a virtual online environment.
Features:
— Omemo is billed as a filesharing protocol that is as anonymous as (technically) possible (for both uploading and downloading).
— Content on Omemo is always accessible. No one can erase or alter the content of the Omemo “O” drive.
What We Found:
Slow speeds: Download speeds were less than zippy. Certainly an area that needs improvement for users wanting to share full-length movies and other large media types.
Low file selection: Not much to brag about here - there just aren’t all that many users sharing files through Omemo (yet). While still in Beta stages of development, look for a final public launch in the upcoming months.
Omemo Installation:
The installation is fairly straight-forward - just download and install. If you’d like to set up a ’shared drive’ (in essence, you’ll be adding space to the online “O” drive), you’ll need to add this feature during one of the installation steps:
On the next screen, move the slider to select how much space your “O” drive will be allowed to use. Reboot your computer when asked (although you don’t need to right away).
Like everything else, you’ll need to allow Omemo in your Firewall settings. It uses port 11300 to show access the web interface, and port 11311 for the protocol of file exchange (defaults).
Run Omemo by clicking the icon in your taskbar. This will launch the page to your web-based Omemo interface. Here you’ll be able to search, browse and download other users’ shared files (aka…the “O” drive).
Google is developing a similar P2P network based on the same ’sharing’ principles. No word yet on when even a beta version is slated for public release.
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