20 November 2009, 16:52

Second generation Pogoplug adds more USB ports

The second generation Pogoplug now features four USB ports. Cloud Engines has released the second generation of its popular Pogoplug "plug-top computer". The Pogoplug unit is a small Linux computer running an ARM compatible processor that lets users connect and share USB drives over the Internet via its built-in Gigabit Ethernet connection. Supported drive formats include NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, Ext2 and Ext3. Once connected and set up, drives and files can be accessed and shared from any web connection.

The latest generation of the device features an all-new design and a total of four USB ports, increased from just one on the original model, allowing users to add even more data capacity. According to Clound Engines, other improvements and new features include better sharing capabilities, a drag-and-drop interface to create engaging multi-media slide shows, enhanced media playback and the ability to share files on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Pogoplug users wanting the latest news, guides and downloads can find them on the Pogoplug community portal. Linux developers interested in working with with Pogoplug should check out the development section of the Pogoplug community forums.

More details about the second generation Pogoplug can be found in the Pogoplug datasheet PDF and on the What is Pogoplug page. Pictures of the previous model and the Pogoplug web and iPhone interface are available on the company's Flickr page. American residents can pre-order the new Pogoplug from the company's web site at a cost of $129.00 (there are no monthly usage fees). The first units are expected to ship by mid-December and units are expected to be available in the UK in early 2010. The supplied power supply is apparently auto switching for 100 to 240V so it is already suitable for UK mains and at least one early customer has reported using the Pogoplug in the UK without any problem, other than having to change the mains plug.