With our latest update to Android, contacts backup is available on Google Play for our Android users! This feature allows you to automatically back up all the contacts in your phone to your Pogoplug account.

We recently introduced contacts backup to the cloud for our free iOS apps. With this update, we now offer easy phone migration in both iOS and Android: You can automatically and wirelessly back up your photos, videos, and important contacts to the cloud, making it simple to transition between mobile devices while keeping all your data. No more “Lost my phone, need your number!!” Facebook groups for you.

Check out more details about contacts backup for Android (and screenshots) under the cut.

One of our most requested features is now available in a Chrome browser near you: adding folders to your Pogoplug account with drag-and-drop!

That’s right–we’ve updated http://my.pogoplug.com to allow you to drag and drop entire folders to your cloud. The drag-and-drop folder upload feature is currently only available in Chrome. (Download Chrome for free if you don’t already use it.) You can also continue to upload folders via automatic backup using our free Pogoplug Companion software. That’s not the only update coming to our Web UI: We’ve also optimized the photo-viewing experience so photos display much faster, and there are lots of other bells and whistles under the hood.

As part of this release, we’re also updating Pogoplug Companion. Some of our users have requested a faster way to upload folders from the desktop, so Companion is now speedier than ever. For Cloud users, Companion will be replacing Pogoplug Drive as the primary way to quickly and reliably add folders to your Pogoplug account.

Once you have selected a folder for backup in Pogoplug Companion, the software will continuously monitor the folder for any new files or changes to existing files. These will be automatically backed up to your Pogoplug Cloud. At any point you can hit the “Stop” button and the folder will no longer be actively backed up.

If you haven’t already, be sure to download Pogoplug Companion and try it out now! And check out our full list of Web UI changes under the cut.

What’s better than a brand-new Toshiba hard drive? How about a brand-new Toshiba hard drive you can access from anywhere in the world?

Now you can get the remote access capability of Pogoplug PC software with Toshiba’s new Canvio® Connect portable drive: As part of our partnership with Toshiba, we’re offering all Canvio Connect users a lifetime license to Pogoplug PC ($29.95 value) and 10GB cloud—both free for life.

The Canvio Connect ranges in storage capacity from 500GB to 2TB and comes with a free Pogoplug PC software license. Available through Toshiba in 16 languages, Pogoplug PC recognizes the Canvio Connect when it’s plugged in and makes it easy for users to enable the contents of their computers for instant remote access. You can access your computer or HDD attached to a computer from any mobile device or Web browser—and Pogoplug’s free 10GB cloud lets you make always-available offsite copies of your most important files.

So far, reviewers are loving the Canvio Connect for its compact design and remote access capabilities:

	CNET “The new USB 3.0 portable drive comes with 10GB of free online storage space. When you plug it to a computer, you can access its contents, as well as the content stored on another computer, be it a Windows or a Mac, via the Internet.This is because the Canvio Connect comes with a lifetime subscription to the Pogoplug PC cloud engine.” read article
	Engadget “While we’re used to connected hard drives that share their contents with phones and tablets, the reverse isn’t common — why don’t many of these drives safeguard our mobile content from the start? Toshiba is as baffled as we are, so it’s launching its Canvio Connect portable drive with handheld access in mind.” read article
	Storage Review “The Pogoplug app also yields remote access to a computer, assuming the computer is operating. In order to get this function up and running, users just need to run the client on their computer and make sure its set to on. […] This makes sharing huge files super easy as opposed to trying to download hundreds of megabytes or even several gigabytes of files.” read article

The Canvio Connect from Toshiba will be available in mid-May. In the meantime, you can try Pogoplug PC for yourself for just $29.95—and keep checking back here for the latest news, product updates and more from Pogoplug.

We’ve written about automatic uploads before, but today we’ll go a little more in-depth to discuss some of our most useful mobile features. In this overview of Pogoplug’s free mobile app, I’ll be covering the following:

• Enabling automatic backups
• Setting a default destination
• How to see photos as they’re uploading
• Wi-Fi vs. Wi-Fi and Cellular
• Uploading originals

Good news for CNET members: Now you can get 20GB free for life just for showing up (and signing up)!

Now through April 25^th, we’re offering all CNET members a 20GB Pogoplug Cloud, free for life.

What can you do with a free 20GB?

• Protect the photos and videos on your phone or tablet by backing up to Pogoplug automatically and wirelessly
• Share large files (up to 20GB, in fact) with anyone you want
• Download our free mobile apps to access all your photos, music and movies on the go

Check out CNET’s coverage of this deal, and sign up with CNET today for your own free 20GB! Remember, this deal goes until April 25th, so tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter and spread the word.

What? An even newer, shinier iOS release?

It’s true: This week, Pogoplug is happy to announce a new update for our iPhone and iPad app, now available at the App Store. Full list of changes under the cut.

Not to worry, Pogoplug PC fans, we haven’t forgotten about you in this latest round of updates! A new version of Pogoplug PC is out now for both Mac and Windows. Check out the full list of changes behind the cut.

However, Pogoplug Companion is also the fastest, easiest way to add folders to your account. All you have to do is enable Pogoplug Drive, a feature of Companion that lets you manage all the files and folders in your Pogoplug account directly from your desktop.