Have some extra USB hard drives you'd like to put to a good use? Though marketed primarily as a media-sharing device, the forthcoming second-generation Pogoplug is a cool and useful tool for sharing business information as well. How using them to create an Internet storage cloud for your company, yourself, or your family? The device was introduced earlier today.
It provides a hardware device and online service that together provide secure file access and sharing. Here's the pitch: For $129, Pogoplug gives you the ability to connect USB hard drives directly to the Internet. Scheduled to ship next month, Pogoplug 2 (as I am calling it) is optimized for Internet viewing and sharing of multimedia files. Because the Pogoplug service keeps track of stored files-indexing across multiple hard drives-it allows users to share files without having to upload them. It can, for example, stream video to an iPhone, which can also upload and download files from the storage cloud the Pogoplug creates.
Optional Windows and Mac desktop apps provide local access to Pogoplug-managed storage. The new model offers four USB connections, allowing multiple drives to be connected without the need for a USB hub. There is no monthly charge for the online service, included in cost of the device. Other new features include better transcoding and wider support for streaming movies on the Web or to an iPhone app. There is also tighter integration with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, as well as automatic organization of your music, photos, and videos. The new software also provides the ability to automatically sync photos, music, videos, and other content from apps such as iTunes and iPhoto.
An address book remembers e-mail addresses with which you've shared content for future sharing. If not, Seagate's DockStar is a somewhat less expensive device, based on Pogoplug technology. The first version, introduced in January at CES, had but a single USB connection and was pretty utilitarian in appearance. (Here is our review). The new Pogoplug is fairly attractive, if you like bright pink. The hitch? Storage is, after all, a terrible thing to waste.
After the first year, Pogoplug service will cost Seagate customers $29.95-a-year. (The DockStar is one of our "25 Top Tech Gifts" for 2009). Meanwhile, Pogoplug's maker, a company called Cloud Engines, said it will "soon" enable additional features, such as "backup, file synchronization, photo printing and more." My take: I didn't think the first Pogoplug was useful enough the buy one, but having recenty discovered a half-dozen extra USB drives around my office, the device suddenly seems almost necessary. I will probably order one online, that is if I can get past the obnoxious self-starting music and videos on the Pogoplug Web site. With the product features now improved, maybe the site can be fixed, too. It keeps repeating over and over. David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.