Cloud Engines Friday introduced the new-features-packed second-generation version of its Pogoplug multimedia sharing device - a 4-star as well as Editors' Choice product that provides instant Web accessibility to any storage device.

The Pogoplug - designed to plug into the home or small office network of the users so as to allow them a Web-browser-based access and content-sharing of USB hard drives over the Internet - users to access, share, and stream any media content to the Internet. Though the data essentially remains on the users' personal hard drives, the Pogoplug allows its online accessibility via the Cloud Engines-designed interface.

The newly-announced Pogoplug boasts four USB 2.0 ports, instead of the earlier one. The ports - three at the back and one in front - facilitate the connectivity of multiple USB hard drives or flash drives sans the requirement of a USB hub.

In addition, the new device also features support for global search across multiple drives - users can either hook multiple Pogoplugs to a single account, or connect more than one drives to a port by using a USB hub.

The $129-priced new Pogoplug, which will ship by 2009-end, supports OS X 10.4 and higher; along with Windows XP, Vista, and Linux; Safari, Firefox 3, IE 7, IE 8, and Chrome Web browsers; and hard drives formatted as NTFS, FAT32, Max OS Extended Journaled and non-Journaled (HFS+), and EXT-2/EXT-3.