![]() It ships with a year's free subscription to Pogoplug, but the service is charged at $29.99 per year thereafter. The device itself is available now priced at $99.99 (roughly £60 exc. Its networking functionality is powered by the Pogoplug service from Cloud Engines and provides the ability to map drives to Windows or Mac PCs, as well as the facility to access or share stored data from a web-based interface. The FreeAgent DockStar measures 86mm x 85mm x 38mm and weighs 0.5kg. We presume the USB ports will accept any portable storage device. It'll connect to your network via Ethernet, and it sports three additional USB ports for further network storage expansion. The device, pictured below with optional hard drive inserted, is essentially a network docking station that allows users to insert a FreeAgent Go hard drive for access from any web-enabled location. I'd also like to see a multiple file upload available for the Pogoplug Web application.īottom line: The DockStar could soon become my preferred method for sharing digital media (especially photos), playing music from anywhere, and inexpensively adding network storage to your system.Got yourself one of those portable FreeAgent Go hard drives launched this time last year? If so, you're now able to equip that drive with NAS functionality thanks to Seagate's newly-launched FreeAgent DockStar network adapter. It would also be easier to transfer files to the portable hard drive directly via USB from all your computers first, rather than doing transfers after you've connected it to the DockStar. Some caveats: While the hardware installation and activation was easy, it would have been nicer to have the software (the Pogoplug client software and the iPhone app) bundled along with the device (instead of downloads available on the Web site). Furthermore, you can upload photos from the iPhone to the DockStar, making this an easy way to get photos off the iPhone and into your central network. The iPhone app lets you stream music files to the mobile device, as well as view and download photos. Second, Pogoplug offers a very handy iPhone/iPod Touch application, providing mobile access to files stored on the DockStar. This gives you easy access to drag-and-drop files to and from the drive (a lot easier than doing it through the Pogoplug Web application). First, there's PC client software that lets you mount the drive on your PC a lot easier than the standard Windows method. Two additional software downloads are available from Pogoplug that make the DockStar even more valuable. Advanced features let you set up folders for a Twitter, Facebook or RSS feed, among others. For example, if you have a bunch of photos that you want to show to Mom, you can just create a folder on the DockStar drive, enable sharing and then invite Mom via e-mail to let her see the pictures. The Pogoplug site and service is also very cool - in addition to providing access to the DockStar, the service lets you share files and folders with others. Installation was very easy - just power up, connect an Ethernet cable, attach the drive and then activate the service via a Web browser. Why it's cool: This is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to turn your portable hard drive into a NAS box. The system includes software from Pogoplug that lets you access files from the DockStar from any Web browser via the Internet. Additional USB ports on the DockStar also let you attach non-Free Agent hard drives to the device, or to create additional storage capacity. What it is: A small docking station for Seagates FreeAgent Go portable hard drives, the DockStar. What it is: A small docking station for Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable hard drives, the DockStar connects via Ethernet to a home router to turn that hard drive into an instant network-attached storage (NAS) drive for the home network. The scoop: FreeAgent DockStar, by Seagate, about US100. ![]() The scoop: FreeAgent DockStar, by Seagate, about $US100
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