Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"San Francisco-based Cloud EnginesTM, maker of Pogoplug®, today unveiled its next-generation personal cloud solutions, making cloud storage safe and affordable for everyone. At a showcase in New York the company introduced new software and hardware products that give users instant access to all of their personal content from any connected device, anywhere - without fees or storage limits."

I'm familiar with Pogoplug, but have never made the jump to using their product - given that I already have a Windows Home Server in place, I don't see much need for it. Some of their new announcements are making me re-think that fact: they've added software that can be installed onto a desktop PC, turning it into a device you can access remotely via the Pogoplug software on your mobile device. Pretty slick! There's also a new device in the line-up: a Pogoplug Video ($199) that adds "enhanced video capabilities" - reading between the lines it looks like it's a real-time transcoder, allowing you to view your video files without having to first download the entire thing. Slick!

The real shame of course is that hardware and services like these become harder to easily use when usage-based caps are being implemented in the USA and Canada.

"We're already gone hands-on with the Boxee Box and its sweet QWERTY RF remote, but now that we know there's a dual-core Tegra 2 in there it's time for a little interface demo with founder Avner Ronen."

I got a chance to spend some time with the Boxee interface, and I have to say, it impressed me. For years, I've watched companies crank out some great made-in-Taiwan NAS/media streamer hardware with good codec support and lots of features, shackled by a brain-dead made-in-Taiwan user interface. It's kept me from every purchasing a device - but Boxee has such a great UI that I think I may use this as the main interface to my media...leaving the loud, streaming/codec-crippled Xbox 360 behind. Boxee and D-Link may have hit a home run with this thing - check out the demo over at Engadget.

"With HD media streamers being a dime a dozen these days, when one particular one seems gain popularity we take notice. So we figured there was no better way to learn what all the fuss is about then to spend a little time with it. The main point of our curiosity was to go beyond the specs and to try and determine how usable it was."

EngadgetHD has put up their impressions of the Popcorn Hour A-110 and its generally favourable. There are a few gripes, but they're pretty minor, and they're fairly pleased with the whole setup. The interesting part for me is the flexibility it provides through add-ons. This is what will set the Popcorn Hour apart from the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, what may prevent it from gaining wide acceptance is the user interface, which EngadgetHD finds lacking. The extra goodies are nice, but if the interface isn't friendly, it'll find itself relegated to the smaller market of geeks. The A-110 is tempting, but I'm afraid that I might find myself going back to Windows Media Center because when I want to watch movies, I don't want to struggle with the interface; I just want to sit back and relax. Am I alone on this?