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"Pogoplug started its life as hardware \u2014 plug a USB drive into it and access files from anywhere. Now, there's a software version of Pogoplug, substituting your Windows, Mac or Linux machine for that hardware and letting you share pictures, music, videos and data with any of your devices or with anyone else. Let's try it.\nDownloading and installing the Pogoplug software is quick and simple. You can get the free version which lets you remotely access all the content on your computer, essentially turning your PC into your own personal cloud. \nThe $29 Pogoplug Premium version lets you do all that, plus it has the ability to stream media from your computer to your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone, all three of which have free Pogoplug apps available. Or, you can access everything from any computer with a web browser by going to your account at Pogoplug.com.\nOnce the Pogoplug server software is installed on your computer, it finds all your photos, music, and video, as well as data in your Desktop and Documents folder. After a few minutes, I loaded the free iPhone app and iPad app on those two devices, and suddenly I wasw streaming music, video and files with ease. \nThis could hardly get any easier. Movies played smoothly even over AT&amp;T's 3G network, and on the iPhone and iPad, they looked slightly grainy but watchable. In addition, it was easy to share files with anyone with an email address with a few taps on a touchscreen.\nThere are drawbacks. For one thing, only certain types of video files are recognized. For instance, .AVI and .MOV files play back quickly and look good, where the computer is converting them to the Pogoplug's streaming file format. However, file formats such as the popular .MKV are not recognized as video. You can share them with whomever you like \u2014 however, they won't stream.\nMusic streamed particularly well on the iPhone and iPad, sounding just as good as it did when played directly from the PC. However, you don't get that same iPod interface you normally do on the iPhone, but a bare subset that's Spartan yet functional. \nUh-oh. Perhaps the worst drawback I noticed was the instability of Pogoplug's iPhone and iPad applications. About half the time, when I'd try to share a file or start playing video, the app would inexplicably shut down. That's just not acceptable.\nVerdict: Pogoplug is a great idea, and the fact that you don't need to buy a $200 hardware device to use its convenient features makes it even more attractive. However, in my testing, the associated software doesn't feel ready yet. Its instability marred its powerful capabilities, rendering Pogoplug almost unusable. \nYou might want to try the free version first, and see if it's stable on your combination of devices. Wait before you spend your $29, and hopefully in the meantime Pogoplug will fix those bugs residing in its apps for iPhone and iPad.\n\n\nPogoplug Software\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFirst Screen\nPogoplug asks you to designate which folders will be available via remote access.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSoftware Tour\nYou can turn off remote access.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDesktop Access\nYou can control everything from your PC, Mac, or Linux machine.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWeb Access\nIf you have web access, you have access to your files.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMobile Devices\nUnfortunately, the iPhone and iPad apps are pretty shaky thus far.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGreat Way to Share Files\nHey, this is almost as good as Dropbox.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPremium Feature\nhere's what you pay your $29 for, but it doesn't work very well yet.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPogoplug Hardware\nBuy the Pogoplug hardware device, and you don't need to keep your computer running when you want to access your files remotely.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDrop-Down Menu\nFrom the web, you can perform lots of file management functions, as well as share files or or publish photos to Facebook.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\niPhone App\nHere's the splash screen of the Pogoplug iPhone app.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\niPhone App\nLook at all you can do.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVideo Directory\nThose dates don't make it easy to find a video. One big file would have been ideal.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/05/01/pogoplug-software-review/>