Smart Home Blog

If you have external USB hard drive and would like to access it without PC the Pogoplug is probably what do you need. This stylish adaptor turns any USB storage device into NAS. Additionally to sharing files it provides UPnP service to stream media content by home network. The Pogoplug can be easily configured via web interface. For Linux geeks it provides SSH access and a few open source components. The functionality of the Pogoplug can be expanded by uploading a new firmware. So, later some new features might be added there.

The Pogoplug is available just for $99 which is near to cost some one bay NAS without HDD. But using USB hub you can connect to the Pogoplug more then one device.

You can watch demo video about configuration Pogoplug after jump.
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Mini PCs such ASUS Eee Desktop or Acer Aspire are good to use them as HTPC. They are compact, quiet and good looking. But they have a big disadvantage. It isn’t possible to install DVB-S card there to watch satellite TV. DVBWorld HD Box can solve that problem. Connected via USB port it supports DVB-S and modern DVB-S2. So, you’ll able to watch HD satellite channels. Additionally the box includes a PVR software which allows to schedule recording, record and play recorded TV shows as well as broadcast MPEG video to home network.

DVBWorld HD Box has drivers for MS Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

NAS for the SOHO is not so expensive now. So, to make access to the various files from different PCs much easier it’s better to add it to your home network. But if you already have some USB connected hard drive you can transform it to NAS using NASU2 NAS adapter.

It’s equiped with a USB 2.0/1.1 and an Ethernet 10/100Mbps connection. Additionally NASU2 provides an ability to power most 2.5″ USB hard drives or any low powered USB storage device.

For uses NASU2 offers both SMB (Server Message Block) and the open source Samba network protocols. So, it’s doesn’t matter which OS runs on client PC – MS Windows, MacOS X or Linux. It always will have access to the data on the storage. To access to the storage outside the LAN NASU2 provides FTP connection. Additionally you can use that adaptor as print-server or Torrent client. Not bad for the 50 bucks device, isn’t it?

[via Business Wire]

ControlThink introduced its new Z-Wave USB adapter with upgradable firmware. Now you shouldn’t buy a new adapter to get advantages of updated protocol. You need just the latest version of firmware and Windows XP or Vista based PC.

The “industry’s first upgradeable Z-Wave USB Adapter” runs at 4x (40kbps) speeds but it’s also compatible with 1x (9kbs) devices. The new ControlThink Z-Wave adapter is available on the producer’s web site and tagged at $39.95.

P. S. It’d be great to have support of that adapter by LinuxMCE. But as I know the biggest disadvantage of Z-Wave technology is its stand-off (ZigBee is much better in this regard because it uses open protocol). So, it’s not so easy to support the changed Z-Wave protocol.

[via Engadget]

Nuvo has released its Wireless USB Syncing Device (NV-USBW), which enables homeowners and installers to sync music from PCs throughout the home to NuVo’s NV-M3 server without the need for a hard-wired connection. It provides a USB device connection over Wireless-G that is specially “tuned” for the NV-M3. As result PCs syncing to the NV-M3 music server no longer need to be close to the NV-M3.

The Wireless USB Syncing Device will be available in December for $399.