Pogoplug second generation debuts, coming this holiday with enhanced web interface
By Ross Miller 
posted November 20th 2009 8:30AM
posted November 20th 2009 8:30AM
At $129, it's a little costlier than the old model, but the company's promising no additional service fees. It's coming out in time for this holiday season. Fan of the first generation hardware? The good news is that it'll be updated with all the new features, giving you the same experience minus the new style and extra USB ports. The bad news is, the older model's on the outs -- from now on, it's a second generation world. We're looking forward to some serious sit-down time here, but in the meantime, please check out images from our brief hands-on at an event earlier this week -- press release is after the break, too, if you're interested.
Second Generation Pogoplug™ Unveiled Today
Next-generation Hardware Design and Software Provide Enhanced Storage, Multimedia and Social Media Capabilities
Next-generation Hardware Design and Software Provide Enhanced Storage, Multimedia and Social Media Capabilities
San Francisco, Calif. – November 20, 2009 – Cloud Engines, Inc. unveiled the second generation of the award winning Pogoplug multimedia sharing device today giving consumers more flexibility to store personal content safely in the home and access, manage, and share it from anywhere on the Internet. The new Pogoplug hardware sports a new design boasting multiple USB ports supporting up to 4 external drives for expanded data capacity. The new Pogoplug also gives users improved sharing capabilities, an easy drag-and-drop interface to create engaging multi-media slide shows, seamless media playback, and enhanced sharing with friends on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
Pogoplug acts like a gateway from your home or office through the Internet. It allows you to access, share and even stream your personal digital media directly to anybody, anywhere in the world. Your content always remains physically in your home or office, making it secure, convenient and available on your terms. Pogoplug is perfect for those individuals with increasingly mobile lifestyles and small businesses in need of simple, inexpensive mobile data access solutions.
"The reaction to the Pogoplug has been incredible. By listening to user feedback and following our own product roadmap, we are bringing a great second-generation product that gives our customers access to a host of new features that both improve the function of the Pogoplug, and add to the fun of using it as well." said Daniel Putterman, CEO of Cloud Engines, Inc. "We are committed to giving our customers the best way to access their data from anywhere in the world, pushing the envelope with both product quality and design aesthetic. The result is what you see here today."
NEW HARDWARE
The new Pogoplug design retains the simplicity and ease of use of the original while listening to consumer feedback and adding the ability to directly connect up to 4 external hard drives at once. The resulting product boasts an improved design with greatly improved functionality for users with multiple drives and an increasing need for easy synching and sharing of their digital libraries. This upgrade turns the Pogoplug into an even more prominent feature in the modern digital home or small business.
NEW FEATURES
Automatically Synchronize Photos, Videos, Music and Other Selected Content
Users can synchronize their Pogoplug with their PC or Mac to automatically import new content from popular applications such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and iPhoto. This feature allows Pogoplug owners to "set it and forget it" and always have access to new photos, videos and music from anywhere on the Internet.
Drag-and-Drop Music and Photo Slideshows
Users can easily create and share fun and engaging slideshows using their stored photos, videos and music. Creating a slideshow with Pogoplug is as simple as drag and drop, and sharing these slideshows is just as easy as ever. Once a user's link is shared and viewed, their slideshow will immediately begin with the photos, videos and music they selected, playing seamlessly in the viewer's browser.
Easier Sharing with Pogoplug Address Book
Pogoplug Address Book greatly improves the speed and ease of use of sharing with a user's friends and family. Pogoplug automatically remembers all email addresses entered in a user's previous shares - even if that share no longer exists – and makes them available in an easy to use address book to make sharing truly one click away.
Global Search Across Multiple Drives and Pogoplugs
With support for multiple drives on a single Pogoplug (and multiple Pogoplugs on the same account) Pogoplug has added "global" search support across all of a user's Pogoplugs and drives. Search filters are now a distinct feature, allowing users to view all of their photos, videos and music in a single organized view, or to search for a specific file across all Pogoplugs and drives.
Organize Your Music, Photos and Videos
Pogoplug automatically displays music by Album, Artist and Genre, and shows cover art for quick access to a user's favorite music. Photos are now displayed by photo timeline and videos are only a click away, including the ability to watch a preview in the thumbnail itself.
Play movies directly from my.pogoplug.com, or even to the iPhone
Pogoplug now supports the playback of videos directly from a Pogoplug, with support for the most popular cameras, video cameras and mobile phones. Movies can be shared and viewed directly from the Pogoplug website – or even from an iPhone!
Pricing and Availability
We are currently taking Pre-Orders for Pogoplug at HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplug.com"www.pogoplug.com Units will ship before the end of the year – just in time for the Holiday Season. The Pogoplug has a suggested retail price of $129, with no additional service fees.
USEFUL LINKS
Pogoplug web site: HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplug.com/"www.pogoplug.com
Product photos: HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/pogoplug"www.flickr.com/photos/pogoplug
Twitter feed: HYPERLINK "http://www.twitter.com/pogoplug"www.twitter.com/pogoplug
Pogoplug online community: HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplugged.com" www.pogoplugged.com
ABOUT THE POGOPLUG
The Pogoplug is a device that connects up to 4 external hard drives to the Internet. It is designed for consumers who have an external hard drive and have high speed Internet. Consumers can securely access and share all of their content [Files, Photos, and Video] from any Web browser or enabled mobile device with no additional monthly fees. Free your inner drive.
ABOUT CLOUD ENGINES, INC.
Founded in 2007 by experienced entrepreneurs from the digital media and security industries, Cloud Engines is located in San Francisco, California. The company was formed with a mission to change the way personal content is stored and distributed over the Internet. The Cloud Engines philosophy is that by making a product simple, open and affordable, the community will participate in making it better. For more information, please visit our Web site, HYPERLINK "http://www.cloudengines.com/"www.cloudengines.com.
Pogoplug acts like a gateway from your home or office through the Internet. It allows you to access, share and even stream your personal digital media directly to anybody, anywhere in the world. Your content always remains physically in your home or office, making it secure, convenient and available on your terms. Pogoplug is perfect for those individuals with increasingly mobile lifestyles and small businesses in need of simple, inexpensive mobile data access solutions.
"The reaction to the Pogoplug has been incredible. By listening to user feedback and following our own product roadmap, we are bringing a great second-generation product that gives our customers access to a host of new features that both improve the function of the Pogoplug, and add to the fun of using it as well." said Daniel Putterman, CEO of Cloud Engines, Inc. "We are committed to giving our customers the best way to access their data from anywhere in the world, pushing the envelope with both product quality and design aesthetic. The result is what you see here today."
NEW HARDWARE
The new Pogoplug design retains the simplicity and ease of use of the original while listening to consumer feedback and adding the ability to directly connect up to 4 external hard drives at once. The resulting product boasts an improved design with greatly improved functionality for users with multiple drives and an increasing need for easy synching and sharing of their digital libraries. This upgrade turns the Pogoplug into an even more prominent feature in the modern digital home or small business.
NEW FEATURES
Automatically Synchronize Photos, Videos, Music and Other Selected Content
Users can synchronize their Pogoplug with their PC or Mac to automatically import new content from popular applications such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and iPhoto. This feature allows Pogoplug owners to "set it and forget it" and always have access to new photos, videos and music from anywhere on the Internet.
Drag-and-Drop Music and Photo Slideshows
Users can easily create and share fun and engaging slideshows using their stored photos, videos and music. Creating a slideshow with Pogoplug is as simple as drag and drop, and sharing these slideshows is just as easy as ever. Once a user's link is shared and viewed, their slideshow will immediately begin with the photos, videos and music they selected, playing seamlessly in the viewer's browser.
Easier Sharing with Pogoplug Address Book
Pogoplug Address Book greatly improves the speed and ease of use of sharing with a user's friends and family. Pogoplug automatically remembers all email addresses entered in a user's previous shares - even if that share no longer exists – and makes them available in an easy to use address book to make sharing truly one click away.
Global Search Across Multiple Drives and Pogoplugs
With support for multiple drives on a single Pogoplug (and multiple Pogoplugs on the same account) Pogoplug has added "global" search support across all of a user's Pogoplugs and drives. Search filters are now a distinct feature, allowing users to view all of their photos, videos and music in a single organized view, or to search for a specific file across all Pogoplugs and drives.
Organize Your Music, Photos and Videos
Pogoplug automatically displays music by Album, Artist and Genre, and shows cover art for quick access to a user's favorite music. Photos are now displayed by photo timeline and videos are only a click away, including the ability to watch a preview in the thumbnail itself.
Play movies directly from my.pogoplug.com, or even to the iPhone
Pogoplug now supports the playback of videos directly from a Pogoplug, with support for the most popular cameras, video cameras and mobile phones. Movies can be shared and viewed directly from the Pogoplug website – or even from an iPhone!
Pricing and Availability
We are currently taking Pre-Orders for Pogoplug at HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplug.com"www.pogoplug.com Units will ship before the end of the year – just in time for the Holiday Season. The Pogoplug has a suggested retail price of $129, with no additional service fees.
USEFUL LINKS
Pogoplug web site: HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplug.com/"www.pogoplug.com
Product photos: HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/pogoplug"www.flickr.com/photos/pogoplug
Twitter feed: HYPERLINK "http://www.twitter.com/pogoplug"www.twitter.com/pogoplug
Pogoplug online community: HYPERLINK "http://www.pogoplugged.com" www.pogoplugged.com
ABOUT THE POGOPLUG
The Pogoplug is a device that connects up to 4 external hard drives to the Internet. It is designed for consumers who have an external hard drive and have high speed Internet. Consumers can securely access and share all of their content [Files, Photos, and Video] from any Web browser or enabled mobile device with no additional monthly fees. Free your inner drive.
ABOUT CLOUD ENGINES, INC.
Founded in 2007 by experienced entrepreneurs from the digital media and security industries, Cloud Engines is located in San Francisco, California. The company was formed with a mission to change the way personal content is stored and distributed over the Internet. The Cloud Engines philosophy is that by making a product simple, open and affordable, the community will participate in making it better. For more information, please visit our Web site, HYPERLINK "http://www.cloudengines.com/"www.cloudengines.com.
No comment on the pogo, but that flat ethernet cable looks handy. I haven't seen them before.
@matt looks like a normal ethernet cable to me
@matt I agree. Ive never seen those flat cables either. Kinda neat looking.
@matt I'll take 20M of flat eth cable.
@%UsernameHTML% I got a flat ethernet cable when I bought my Buffalo Linkstation. Its pretty neat.
@1 LaCie just came out with some...
http://www.lacie.com/au/products/range.htm?id=10045
AWESOME!!!!1
Hmm wonder if it will have other colors besides pink.
@Skaz For more masculinity they stock RAWBERRY colour.
Very interesting gimmicky product.
The question is do I really want to have access to all my stuff over the internet, running off of a Hard Drive so that if there was an exploit of some sort the whole world would see everything about me ?
Yes I know you can configure it to block out blah blah blah and only allow blah blah blah (I went on the pogo site check out the flash rolling demo to see if this device is your cup of tea or not). But it jsut aint for me, none the less cool idea and I msure it will sell. I recon this is excellent if you are a small company looking to have certai nfiel sharing priveleges for employees etc without having to worry about an exchange server etc. I recon they should shoot for a business version.
@Diesel1313 For those who do not like the internet-based idea (myself included), check out TonidoPlug:
http://www.tonidoplug.com/
It is the same hardware as the 1st gen Pogo, but based more for access over your home network (although you can do internet based IF you want to).
Does anyone know if Pogo even gives the option of not using it across the internet?
Can someone tell me in ONE clear sentence what this thing is ? or can do / is for ?
am so not gettin it !
@Eastman yeah I had the same response. Nowhere in the article is it stated what exactly this thing does.
@Eastman ibid.
@Eastman
I sure can try to do it in one sentence.
You attach an external drive to the Pogoplug and it connects to your home network; This allows you to share media files to any internet capable computer through a web browser.
Ok, well I cheated and pseudo turned the two sentences into one by using a semicolon. I think I followed the rules of English correctly though. ; ^ )
Hopefully still short enough of an explanation.
@Patriot
Hey thank you .. at least now i am kinda gettin the idea .. :)
Even if it was more than a real one sentence .. heheh
@Eastman if it wasn't clear, i think you can also access the files from the internet outside your home network, unless i am wrong...
but i agree, i find that a quick explanation of the gadget at hand is needed in articles pretty often.
@maveric101
hey thanx .. :)
i think a real clear explanation of what this thing does was really needed here as its such a new and niche product that i didnt get this one on my own ..
Cool design but is it safe to share ya personal stuff this way ?
mmhhh
yeah i checked and you can access the connected drive from your home network, a web interface, or an iphone app. i'd bet the web interface has several options for security; at least password protected on a secure website (https).
@maveric101
mmhh thanx .. that cleared this mystery up as well :))
And theres nothing else that can do this .. or do it for less ?
Oh ,and is it US only or any Euro Love on the way ?
Ok... so it works just like the first one, but WHAT IS IT? I guess I'm just so out of touch with tech that I don't instantly know what this mystery box does.
I think it plays music, maybe. I can't believe I'm going to have to Google it...
@aardWolf
Check out pogoplug.com. It's basically an no-brainer way to get your files online. Think of it as a MobileMe iDisk that you can access from anywhere on any computer without the monthly fees. I installed a Transmission bittorent client on it and mainly use it as a torrent server since it only uses like 15 watts and I can keep it on all of the time.
Perhaps the article should indicate what the product is?
"(worth it if you have good taste in music, but the statistics aren't in your favor)"
Love that Engadget is getting music snobby vis-a-vis Pitchfork!
Its a linux box that turn your usb hard disk into a nas, basically. So nut sure if it can do bt and stuff, just reading up on it myself. Google is ur friend!
Idiotic report! Terrible reporting! It does not describe what the Pogoplug does! Try again! and stop posting political articles with democrat or liberal leftists vies if your going to reject my views which are the opposite political opinion!!!!
IMPEACH ALL DEMOCRATS!
@%UsernameHTML% Aww. Did they piss on your cornflakes?
@jcritch maybe if you would've looked just a little on engadget for Pogoplug articles like most other sensable people who didn't know what it was did, then you'd know what the f*ck this device was for. I didn't even have to look at another page though. If you would've just clicked on the little button that says "Show Press Release" and read the FIRST SENTENCE you would've known what it was before ever getting to the comments.
"Cloud Engines, Inc. unveiled the second generation of the award winning Pogoplug multimedia sharing device today giving consumers more flexibility to store personal content safely in the home and access, manage, and share it from anywhere on the Internet."
Pretty much nails what the device does right there.
I see I'm not the only one confused by this device and its purpose...
My first thought was that it was an web only device that allowed you to share and store your digital files...I might be wrong :-p
So I'm not the only one that has no idea what this thing does. So I went to the PogoPlug site and found that it is "a device that let's you access and share the contents of your external hard drives through the internet."
Oh, so something I don't want.
Well, I still love the 1st gen looking and the plug idea. This 2nd gen is just ugly.
@Rhino I agree- the first gen hardware was way cooler. I think if they could add 802.11n and DLNA compatibility, it would be uber slick. Oh well, looks like my homebrew equivalent is here to stay.
Still no worldwide (in my case europe) availability. With the first gen I can understand because it was a powerplug, but this one has powercord. How hard can it be to deliver an appropriate transfo with it?
Still doesn't have any kind of Wifi... c'mon guys. Something like an Apple Airport Extreme has NAS capability + 802.11n, albeit without the openness and expandability of the pogoplug.
@LaughingMan Don't you think it might be nice to have a media server like this hard-wired to a gigabit connection? Granted externally you'll saturate your upload speeds but when at home multiple computers will be able to access this with no slow down.
Imagine two computers and this all connected wirelessly together at shared 54Mbps speed accessing large files.
Also, Can't you just plug the Pogoplug into the WAP. It's not like the Pogoplug needs to be by your desk. It can go next to the WAP.
@Patriot
802.11n, especially operating in the 5Ghz band, provides a lot more bandwidth than 54Mbps of 802.11g.
I understand that for the most optimal solution, you'd want to have a NAS connected via gigabit ethernet wherever you can, but that doesn't mean that they should not give the choice to people who can't run wired ethernet all over the house. My point is, with my Airport Extreme, I have a NAS that I can access from either gigabit connected computers or my notebook wirelessly in one box. The pogoplug requires a second box, where it really doesn't have to... the price of a wireless chipset is dropping so fast that it doesn't make any sense for it not to have one.
For all of those who are complaining that the article doesn't say what it does, try clicking on the "Show Press Release" button. I know that pushing a button requires prior knowledge but come on. ; ^ P
Or you could just go to http://www.pogoplug.com/ and watch a demo of what it does. For those of you so lazy, that you can't even get up the stairs of your mother's basement to eat dinner anymore, here is a quick summary -
You attach an external drive to the Pogoplug and it connects to your home network; This allows you to share media files to any internet capable computer through a web browser.
So basically this is a NA(S) where you have to provide your own S. Might as well get a D-Link DNS-321 for $110 or so, which is extremely hackable and probably more versatile that this.
@patsy
Well sort of, it's a NAS that links to the Pogoplug servers to allow you to control access to the NAS over the Internet and the interface makes it easier for the average person to access the media files on it. It doesn't just show up as a drive on the remote side. It shows up with an interface to access the files.
Yes, a tech geek can easily stream his media already without using this. I do but I can see this being very useful to a mroe average home user. It's actually a neat idea.
It's only when you are at home it acts like more of a standard NAS box, install a little app. on your machine and it shows up as a drive letter.
The point is, we already clicked on a link to Engadget. That's why we read Engadget, to get a nice little bitesized news story on the latest gadget, including what it is and what it does. Why would I click on a link for more information if I have not the faintest hint of a clue what the thing is. Engadget I don't think is conceived of or presented as merely a photo and a link to somewhere else where the actual information resides. The information is supposed to be here. It's just a really badly written post. Why would I give a rats butt if it has more USB ports if I don't even have any idea what the USB ports are for? Honestly.
yea.. not quite sure of this one
That damn Barbie Pink alone makes me not want it.
@%UsernameHTML% LOL! Yes, I concur - it is definitely not Pretty in Pink. ; ^ )
It would have to go in the basement hidden behind all the other network gear.
That thing is hideous. Especially with that silly pink cable organizer. (ps, thanks for the font change Engadget, but change the font on the user names also. Having to expand the replies is still aggravating ffs)
@%UsernameHTML% Yeah, there needs to be a global option to view all comments.
I already have enough storage.. is there any existing software that would allow me to do the same with storage that's already on my pc?
so it's a ...... server?
and for those of you too lazy to click to find out what it is, it turns a standard USB external HDD into a NAS device...
you can achieve the same results by sharing your external drive on your network with zero out of pocket expense... so im not sure how there is even a market for this.
To poise, Ross? I don't think so.