Free attachment sending service Pando Networks has unveiled a beta application that lets users of popular Web e-mail sites such as Hotmail and Yahoo Mail transmit extra-large attachments.

The peer-to-peer service specializes in sidestepping the attachment size restrictions of many Internet service providers, e-mail services, and e-mail software. Rather than send an actual attachment, Pando sends the recipient a short file that when opened starts a download directly from the sender's PC and/or Pando's servers.

Pando can handle attachments as large as 1GB.

Beta 1.2 provides plug-ins for Internet Explorer 6 and IE 7 that work with Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, and Gmail. An earlier edition of the service's software sported only plug-ins for Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client and Yahoo's instant messaging software.

Pando can be downloaded from the company's Web site; Beta 1.2 works only on Windows-powered PCs, although a Mac version of the standalone Pando application is available.