LimeWire Going Social: Upcoming 5.0 Release Announced

On October 30 P2PON wrote: “LimeWire hardly lets a few moths pass and it’s is back in the headlines with some new offer, addition or development. “ - now we had to wait even less to learn about Limewire’s new market intention.

On Friday the company announced it will very soon release version 5.0 of its software in beta which is likely to allow users to "set up personal networks based on existing contacts and exchange information selectively with their friends."

"When Lime Wire was launched in 2000, we were pioneers in the peer-to-peerfile sharing world, and we have seen that world change as our users havegrown with us," Kevin Bradshaw, Lime Wire's Chief Operating Officer said. "The peer-to-peer world has always had aninherently social aspect to it, and with our next version, we are bringingsocial sharing to the forefront. We see Lime Wire 5.0 not only enhancingour current users' capabilities, but the new program has the potential tocreate a new generation of Lime Wire users who are interested inconnecting, sharing, socializing and discovering."

You might be wondering why this effort for additional features when the standard LimeWire Basic and LimeWire Pro product bring over 70 million unique monthly users, 350,000 downloads a day, and nearly 5 million active users at any moment. Well, the catch could be the spurring of the LimeWire Store, which sells DRM-free MP3 downloads a la carte or using subscription plans.

According to LimeWire's press release, with LimeWire 5.0 users will be able to:

• Set up secure personal sharing networks based on existing contacts; users can choose to limit distribution to personal network only
• Integrate buddy lists from Jabber-compatible services
• Provide better virus protection
• Interface with The LimeWire Store
• Easier navigation with a new visual design of both website and application allowing users more security and better ability to manage shared files, download, search and connect with friends.