Pando Networks, a small company that offers free personal and direct P2P software, has partnered with Skype in order to create a “Pando Extra” which makes it easier for users to send large files over Skype. 3.0. Although Skype already has basic file transfer capabilities, the Pando Extra will greatly increase sending functionality by allowing users to send files up to 1 Gigabyte in size. In addition, users will be able to send files to offline contacts, send multiple files to multiple contacts at the same time, and post files to MySpace and blogs. Users will also be able to subscribe to video RSS feeds.

Paul Amery, Skype's director of developer programs, stated, "Extras Manager is a new feature for Skype 3.0 which allows end users to do more with Skype. For some time now we have been working to enable Skype as a distribution platform for 3rd party add-ons and applications. Applications such as Pando are important in generating new usage and new users for Skype and software partners. I am really interested to see how users take advantage of this feature."

The Pando Extra is based off of BitTorrent peer-to-peer technology. The patent for their technology is still pending. On previous occassoin, Pando has partnered with Yahoo! on a Yahoo! Messenger Plug-in.

The software can be downloaded at these links:

From Skype: https://extras.skype.com/276/view
From Pando: http://pando.com/skypehelp