Xunlei Makes File-Sharing Social and Local, Probably Banned from Apple’s App Store

The Xunlei Linju app for iPhone - only available for jail-broken devices.

Xunlei has added social and location-based (LBS) features to a new file-sharing service, and released an app for iPhone called Xunlei Linju – the last word means “neighborhood” in Chinese – that hasn’t, and likely never will be, accepted into Apple’s tightly-controlled iTunes app store.

The Windows PC software and accompanying iPhone app for Xunlei Linju allow users to request certain files – such as music, movies – from anyone on the new P2P social network. A request can then be filled by sharing the file to only one person, who might then go on the share it with others. Alternatively, users will get a free 5-gigabytes of cloud storage – or 8-gigs for members – where you can store files and grant access to certain people to take them from your cloud locker. Plus, the social aspect of the site has all the usual features such as profiles, avatars, and messaging.

The Xunlei Linju app for Windows - browse users, chat, request file-shares, and more.

The location-based element is harder to figure out, since one’s position on the earth is irrelevant when it comes to P2P file-sharing – but anyway, the Windows Linju app (pictured above) asks you to specify a fixed location while the iPhone app uses GPS to pin-point you more precisely and let you chat and file-share with people in your locale, if you wish.

The Linju iPhone app is being hosted on a Chinese iOS and Android app store called Mobile91 and is unlikely to get past Apple’s rigorous screening process which also weeds out apps that might enable the piracy of digital content.

Xunlei is best-known in China for its original P2P file-sharing platform, though it also has a fairly popular video-streaming site that has licensed video content. There were plans afoot last summer for the company to IPO in the US before it was cancelled over reported fears of its liabilities related to potential copyright claims. Now that Xunlei seems to be investing even more in its P2P-oriented services, it’s unlikely to be touched with a barge-pole by potential investors overseas.

Check out Xunlei Linju for Windows at its homepage, and snag the iPhone app from Mobile91 (requires jailbreak).

[Hat-tip to LBSvision (article in Chinese) for spotting this app]