Building on its earlier crowdfunding success, Connectify is trying to raise $100,000 via Kickstarter to boost development efforts for Connectify Switchboard, a cloud service that will let Mac and PC users combine multiple Internet connections for faster speeds and increased reliability.
The Philadelphia-based company first turned to crowdfunding last August when it launched a Kickstarter campaign for a minimum of $50,000 to commercialize its Connectify Dispatch application, which lets a PC (though not a Mac) connect to multiple networks simultaneously and use the combined throughput of all the connections.
The company said its new Connectify Switchboard app will use channel bonding to enable users to leverage up to 95 percent of the combined speed of every Wi-Fi, 3G/4G and wired connection available to their computer.
"A valuable part of our first Kickstarter experience was the feedback we received from backers throughout the development process," said Alex Gizis, founder and CEO of Connectify. "With the help of our backers, we were able to deliver the Connectify Dispatch software on schedule. Now, customers and Kickstarter backers have told us that they want a new connection aggregation technology: one that is Mac-compatible and can speed up single-socket applications like video streaming, uploads and VPNs."
Because Switchboard is envisioned as a cloud service, Connectify intends to deploy a worldwide infrastructure of what it calls speed servers. "We already have servers up-and-running in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, so I'm confident that we'll be able to further deploy the server infrastructure necessary to support Switchboard users around the world," said Gizis.
Kickstarter backers that opt for Beta Access reward levels will get early versions of Connectify Switchboard for Mac and PC and will be given an opportunity to collaborate with the Connectify developers by providing feedback.
For more:
- see this Connectify release
- see this Kickstarter webpage
- see this Engadget article
- see this GigaOM article
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Connectify aggregates Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G into a fat pipe