French start-up Infinit has customized its iOS client for Apple's iPads and partnered with HTC to put its free software for speeding up file sharing on the company's smartphones.
Infinit has developed a peer-to-peer technology that the company says lets users share files faster than when using services such as Dropbox, Google Drive or Apple's AirDrop,. The Tuesday's announcements build on the launch of its applications for Android and iOS at the end of March.
The iOS app has been upgraded to work better on Apple's tablets. A lot of people share files between their MacBooks and iPads, so customizing the layout of the user interface for the bigger tablet screens made sense, according to chief operating officer and co-founder Baptiste Fradin.
Infinit has also developed an iOS Share Extension, which lets users share files from within any iOS app.
The deal with HTC means the Android app will be distributed via the HTC Club, and members will get a push notification suggesting they install it, Fradin said.
Owners of HTC smartphones who share a lot of big files should take a look at the application. A quick test conducted when the mobile clients were released showed a 320MB video file could be shared between an HTC One M9 and a MacBook Air in about 3 minutes, via LTE and an Ethernet LAN. Just uploading the same file to Google Drive via LTE took about 25 minutes, so Infinit seems to be able to back up its performance promises.
Infinit doesn't put a limit on the size or type of files that can be transferred, and its technology doesn't require users to wait for files to upload before they are shared. Both sender and receiver have to install Infinit's software for it to work. Transfers are only paused if the network connection dies or the smartphone is turned off. Privacy is improved because there are no central servers and the files are encrypted end to end, the company said.
In addition to English, Infinit's mobile apps are now available in French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish, and also in Dutch and Swedish on iOS.
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