After licensing its software to third-party vendors and launching its own cloud service, Pogoplug is back at building hardware and here comes the Pogoplug Series 4. This latest Pogoplug box keeps the simple concept that made Pogoplug so popular: it’s a smart, self-contained, cloud server to which you attach a storage device. But this time, the storage connectivity gets a performance boost and some convenient options.
Pogoplug Series 4 gets two USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port. This is a big deal because USB 3.0 is so much faster than its predecessor. However, if you want even more performance, Pogoplug has integrated a Seagate GoFlex/SATA port at the top of the device. With that, it is possible to plug any Seagate GoFlex disc or any 2.5″ SATA disc. In theory, this is the solution that would offer the best performance.
For convenience, there is also a new SD card slot. Given that it is possible to find a 64GB SD card for a relatively affordable price, this could turn the Pogoplug Series 4 into an ultra-compact personal server. I really like this idea and I’m sure that others will agree. The device will retail for $99, which is comparable to other Pogoplug devices before it. If you have been thinking about using an old PC as file sharing server, think again: the Pogoplug will be much smaller and lower power.
