Pogoplug launches software-only personal streaming service [100 free premium accounts]

Pogoplug is known as a company which produces devices you connect to your computer, making all your files available wherever you are. Now it’s launching a hardware-free solution.

The service supports Windows and OS X and allows users to stream any photos, music or video from their home computer to wherever they are in the world. You can also stream your files to iOS devices via an updated version of Pogoplug’s OneView app.

While Pogoplug’s press release uses the description ‘Personal cloud’, suggesting that it is positioned against Apple’s iCloud, in actual fact this is a traditional streaming product as your media stays on your home computer. Hence it can boast “No storage limits” because Pogoplug isn’t doing any storage at all – it’s all down to you. It truly is a personal cloud in the most literal sense, in that it’s entirely operated by you

That said, as a personal streaming service, Pogoplug’s solution has a well-rounded set of features. It offers a Jukebox that lets you listen to all of your music aggregated from all of your Pogoplug-enabled devices into a single, duplicate-free library, a Cinema section for easy streaming of video, and a Gallery that displays all your pictures from multiple devices in a unified timeline. Individual files can be shared between computers using a device browser.

So, a true ‘cloud’ product it isn’t really, but if you’re the kind of person who just doesn’t trust your data to be stored in some far-away server farm, this is probably a better solution. The only downside is that you’ll have to leave whichever computers you want to access switched on.

The software-only Pogoplug is free to install and use, with a one-off payment of $29 to stream music outside the home or to stream movies anywhere. However, Pogoplug has given The Next Web 100 free premium accounts to give away to our readers. To claim a free account, follow this link and sign up as fast as you can before they all run out.