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YouSendIt sends iPad, Android apps to cloud storage war

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YouSendIt added new iPad and Android client apps(s aapl)(s goog) to its cloud-based document sync, transfer and storage service, as well as updated iPhone and Windows desktop apps. A Mac desktop version is in beta.

That means users can transfer documents to the cloud or other devices securely from the popular Apple tablet and more smartphones, according to the Campbell, Calif.–based company.

This is just the latest shot fired in an ever-hotter arms race of cloud storage providers both in the consumer and business realm. Competitors include Box.net, Dropbox, Carbonite and others.

YouSendIt’s (see disclosure) claim to fame is that it offers one suite of services for sending, syncing, storing and electronically signing documents. The alternative is to use a consumer service like Dropbox to sync files, DocuSign for signing them and someone else for project folders, said Brian Curry, YouSendIt’s VP of product and business strategy.

“We ended last quarter with 23.5 million users,” Curry added. “We think these are mostly professional users . . . people working in small or home offices, legal firms, design departments within larger companies — folks that need secure file transfer where classic email doesn’t work, people who need to set read and write permissions and to do electronic signatures,” Curry said.

A free version of the service allows use of all the mobile, desktop and web clients but limits users to transferring one 50 MB document at a time, 2 GB of cloud storage and five free signatures. The paid Premium version ($9.99 per month or $49.99 per year per user) has a 5GB memory limit , allows transfer of multiple files at once and 10 signatures per year.  The Pro Plus version ($14.99 per month or $149.99 per year per user) offers unlimited storage and e-signatures.

There is another tier for corporate customers who need 10,000 seats at a time that integrates with the corporate Active Directory, allowing single sign-on and policy management.

Disclosure: YouSendIt is backed by Alloy Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Yutaka Tsutano

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