There have been many times, several in recent days even, where I have found myself away from home, bored and looking for something to do. I have my laptop with me, but no movies to watch as they are all stored on my USB external hard disk drive at home. Therefore I am stuck. Fortunately, Pogoplug aims to tackle that exact situation by allowing you access to your USB external hard disk drive from anywhere in the world, even from your iPhone.
It is a simple concept, and is executed well by the looks of things. The device is a similar size, perhaps a little bigger than your tradition desktop external hard drive, however a neat design allows for some basic cable management as well as some decent aesthetics considering it’s really the type of product you wouldn’t traditionally associate with great looks. The clear plastic case surrounds the device which is incorporated inside a white plastic case labelled ‘Pogoplug’ for obvious reasons. For some added spice the stand is a vivid pink colour which of course, many not be to everyone’s satisfaction but for me it simple makes it more interesting.
So enough with how it looks, how does it work? The answer is simple, all you need to do is just connect it to a power source, then connect it to the router via a standard network cable and then attach a USB via drive via USB (unsurprisingly). Once you have activated your device online you’re ready to remotely access your files through ‘the cloud’ and give access to those files to whoever you choose. You can give friends access for limited or permanent time periods and allow connectivity to any number of devices, it’s like creating your own Dropbox online access to your files.
You can access the drive from your laptop or from your iPhone. The Pogoplug iPhone app is available free from the App Store as always and uses a simplistic interface similar to that of Dropbox iPhone app. Browse through your files and just select the ones you want to access, eliminating the necessity for time consuming uploads on the other side.
Other functionality includes Facebook connectivity so you can provide your friends with links to certain files or folders, but don’t worry you can block access later on if circumstances change. What does this bring to the device you may ask? Well it allows an extremely simple method of sharing photos from your holiday or sharing work projects with colleagues etc. the possibilities are perhaps not endless, but certainly extensive.
The simplicity of the Pogoplug device brings its appeal. There is no need to configure router settings or ports or anything of the sort in order to get the device online, simply plug it in and you have access to all of your files from anywhere in the world. The price comes in at just under £100, it’s certainly a product worth considering if you’re someone who finds themselves out and about without the necessary files and find this system a useful addition to your computing set-up.