RSSPando Launches File Sharing Tool
By Nate Mook | Published May 22, 2006, 12:36 PM
Broadband adoption may be soaring around the world, but sending large files over e-mail is still a painful chore. Pando Networks thinks it has the answer to that problem with a new secure file sharing tool designed for individuals and businesses. Pando users can share files up to 1GB in size.
Officially launched Monday, Pando uses BitTorrent technology to send files between users. Anyone with an e-mail address can receive a file from the service, which then activates the Pando client and starts the download. "As a viral product with great consumer benefit, Pando can accelerate the sharing of home videos, photos and large business documents over the Internet for users worldwide," said Pando CEO Robert Levitan.
Would not running your own email server get around the size limits of most ISP email servers while *not* requiring the use of a client such as this?
They charge for it?
It uses bit-torrent (free) and your email (Free) but they frigging charge for it??!?!?
Why not just put a BT link in your email, for Pete's sake!?!?
gahh.....people are so stupid.
We should really blow ourselves up now. Leave the universe to beings who can actually use their brains.
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|Where are they charging? I don't see it on their site at all nor in the announcement.
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|Sending the .torrent will work fine - provided there are no firewall issues... there is only _one_ source to download from.
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|From a comment from a beta-tester below:
It is just a polished, yet dumbed down, buggy, and non-free verion of bit torrent that semi-integrates with email.
I wouldn't take it as gospel, but...
The other points stand, regardless.
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|The sender would be running the tracker, or send a BT torrent linked to a public tracker.
The recipient would be given a link to a torrent client that can work with a proxy.
Sounds simple enough.
Now...
If the service hosts the content *and* runs the tracker...then I'd see it as being useful....maybey
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|You guys seem to have totally missed the point about Pando. The app is free. They don't charge for anything, including hosting a copy of your encrypted files so recipients get faster, reliable swarm deliveries even if your dumb a** is offline or behind a firewall. Try doing a 1-to-1 bitorrent transfer without it and see how that works for you. We're talking about free BitTorrent trackers and secure caching servers folks. Ya'll need to say thanks and shut up before they change their minds. Of course everyone could just "run your own email server" ... Dude, you need to get out more.
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|When was the last time you actually tried to send a 1GB file through e-mail? Or receive one? Even on your own server, the chance of it actually working is quite low. E-mail isn't really designed for large file transfers.
And most home users have trouble setting up a standard e-mail account, let alone an e-mail server. People are stupid? No, not really - they just specialise. Not everyone specialises in IT. :P
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|I've been using it for about 6 weeks to send large images to a few of my clients. It has a clean, easy to use interface and the idea was long overdue (the size limitations of most email companies is a joke in this day and age). Still, it hasn't really grown on me mainly due to the fact that I sometimes have to call the person to verify that they received the file. That's a drag and a waste of time. The program is still a bit buggy so sometimes they'd receive the email/files and sometimes not. I need 100% reliabilty if I'm going to ask people to install this on their computers. So far, it ain't happening.
_____
Edited to add:
When you attempt to uninstall it via Add/Remove, it opens your default browser and dumps you on a SurveyMonkey webpage to answer questions. I don't know if only the beta version does this, but it's very bad manners, imho, to open another program without user consent.
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|This app is a POS. I participated in the beta and put a lot of effort into very constructive critisism and never once got any feedback or saw that the issues fixed.
As much as they would want you to believe, this just is not a simple app for the secretary. It is just a polished, yet dumbed down, buggy, and non-free verion of bit torrent that semi-integrates with email. It is easier to to teach the moron user to use yousendit.com, etc... than this app. The privacy issues are the same, and pando does not improve that issue in the least.
The problem of sending large file via email is a problem and they almost have the right idea, but the execution as seen in pando is flawed.
What is needed is a client that can be configured to work though a firewall, integrates with all email clients, but does the serving of the file ON ITS OWN, instead of uploading it to an untrusted 3rd party server. I guess it would be more like DC++ instead of BitTorrent
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|Flake,
Take a look at BeamFile (http://www.beamfile.com). Has some way to go (still a beta) but:
- File is NOT uploaded to a server. P2P all the way (and data seems encrypted)
- Works with firewalls without a problem, no configuration (at least - no problem transferring to a friend. We both have some kind of firewall/NAT)
- If recepient does not have BeamFile installed, she is automatically redirected to install it, and then the file is automatically downloaded
- No size limitation (they say '5GB' in their site, but seems to work for larger files...)
It would be nice to have better integration with e-mail clients, but they'll get there...
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|I'm not a fan of bittorrent for this-- it's much faster & efficient(even larger files) to use one of the free transfer services...don't see the point.
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|Ok, but what advantage Pando has over ordinary trackerless torrents? Does it buffer files (up to one GB) or something so offline download are possible?
I can send a torrent file to anyone from my friends. After this he "receives a file from the service, which then activates the Pan.. err torrent client and starts the download". So?
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|The advantage is that it has idiot proof simplicity and it provides privacy via encryption.
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