WebAccess
Latest
Pogoplug Cloud offers 5GB of free mobile storage, a home for your Beatles collection
Is that 2GB of free storage from Dropbox just not enough to house all of your mobile music habits? Don't fret, as Pogoplug Cloud now offers 5GB of secure space for all your storage, sharing and streaming needs. The service offers Dropbox-esque folder sharing and automatic uploads for all those vacation pictures without time lost to manual syncing. If that's not enough extra space for your coveted Jericho episodes (and the Season 3 comics), you can spring from the 50GB and 100GB paid plans at $9.95 and $19.95 per month. You'll also be able to post your cloud activity, should you so desire, to Facebook, Twitter or Google+ via native smartphone apps. All of the aforementioned services are available now via the coverage link below -- after you install the free Android or iOS app, of course.
Pogoplug Mobile hands-on
The cloud is huge (well, infinite, really), and everybody wants their piece. Pogoplug has been a player since the beginning, albeit with a somewhat convoluted setup process, so it's no surprise that the drive-to-web plug appliance company is ready to push out a smartphone-friendly version. Pogoplug Mobile, as it's to be known, brings much of its big brother's functionality (you won't be able to "mount" remote drives) to smartphones, tablets, and dedicated desktop apps. Want to load some photos from your 4 terabyte hard drive in San Fran while you're on the subway in Tokyo? Simply launch an app, sign in with the username and password you registered during the seconds-long setup process, and you're on your way. You can even email photos (links to images on your remote drive -- you won't be using data), post them to social networking sites, or transfer new ones that you shot with the phone. The concept is certainly familiar, but we got to take a look at Pogoplug's interpretation at IFA in Berlin. Jump past the break to see what we thought.%Gallery-132122%
Verizon's 'DataGate' plans leaked in excruciating detail
With each and every passing day, the rumors surrounding Verizon's new "usage plans" are getting tougher to ignore. It's only been two days since we initially heard Big Red was ready to ride its unlimited data plans into the sunset in favor of switching to a newer, more usage-friendly model, and the leaks continue to flood in. This go-round, very official-looking docs that offer up a whole slew of details are in the open air. Many of the details echo what we've heard before: the data plans are the same price, starting at $30 for 2GB and working up to increments of 5GB for $50 and 10GB for $80; mobile hotspot access is an additional $20 and you'll get hooked up with an extra pair of gigs; finally, going over these allotments will cost you $10 per GB. As rumored yesterday, all customers grandfathered into the unlimited monthly data will be allowed to keep it, even when upgrading to new phones. Business discounts, currently applied to the limitless plans, would now only apply to primary lines that are willing to fork out $50 or more; however, the wording did not indicate whether or not those grandfathered in would still receive those same benefits. More leaked docs can be found after the break, so grab some lunch and find your favorite chair -- you'll need 'em.
FCC will consider 'free or very low cost wireless broadband' service
Did you know there was a Digital Inclusion Summit going on? We already know the FCC isn't best pleased about the fact 93 million Americans are making do without access to home broadband, and this latest event was an opportunity for it to dish some more info on its forthcoming National Broadband Plan. The major obstacles to broadband adoption identified by the FCC were noted as cost, computer illiteracy, and a sheer lack of awareness about the benefits the web offers (outside of cute kitties). The big Plan will be delivered to Congress a week from today, and its suggestions will include the creation of a Digital Literacy Corps, who'll be performing missionary duties among the unenlightened, and the big whopper: a proposal to "consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service." Yeah, if you can't jump over the cost hurdle you might as well eviscerate it from existence. Quite naturally, such radical plans have been met with much grumbling opposition, and Business Week reports that it may be years before the full reforms are implemented ... if at all.
79 percent of adults believe web access is a 'fundamental right'
The BBC World Service has conducted a poll of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries to answer one primary question: is internet access a fundamental human right? We can skip right past Finland and Estonia who've already made laws to that effect, and take a look at what the other nations thought. Mexico, Korea and Brazil lead the way here with all having greater than 90 percent agreement, while Pakistan, India and Kenya -- countries with a slightly different perception of what fundamental needs are -- offer the least support, though they're all still above 50 percent in agreement. Other interesting stats include the claim by 85 percent of Japanese internet users and 81 percent in Mexico that they would not be able to "cope without the internet," while 55 percent of Brits and most other European nations believe that the internet should be regulated by governments in at least some way. Ghana and Nigeria are most worried about fraud (ha!), while people in the Philippines see explicit content as the web's biggest threat. Hit the source for more such pearls of wisdom and do let us know what you think in the comments below.
Pogoplug review
When we first caught wind of the Pogoplug -- a small box that essentially lets you turn any USB hard drive (and drives only) into a network device -- we were pretty darn excited. Having a house full of disparate storage boxes and no easy way to connect to them made the prospect of the 'plug seem very enticing. Not only does the Pogoplug make your drive accessible via your PC (with accompanying software), but it -- we think more importantly -- makes the drive accessible via a web front-end and an iPhone app. We finally had a chance to break one of these out and see how it performs, and our findings are below.
