Phoenix Computer Repair and Business IT Support | Expert Solutions You Can Trust
 
 
 

Computer Repair Experts in Phoenix, Arizona. my PC Techs Presents:

Tech Tips - Business IT Support Tips


RSS feed for my PC Techs news  RSS Feeds: Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)

Pages

Tech Tip Archives
Log in

Which Do You Use Most Often for Work?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Posts Tagged ‘smart phone’

Time for a New Smart Phone?

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Although I’ve been looking forward to “upgrading” my Android phone to a newer model, I’ve also been somewhat hesitant. I’ve known people who experienced nightmare scenarios when migrating to a new phone, encountering huge challenges during the transition that have kept them offline for days. When you depend on your phone to get your job done, the thought of being without it for any period of time can be scary. There are programs on the market designed to help you move your apps and data, but even with the assistance of an app it is easy for something to go wrong.

With a little preparation, it is possible to move to the new phone and minimize troubles. My goal is to help eliminate some of the worries you might have about transitioning to a new phone by sharing my recent experience.

The day when my new phone arrived, I took it out of the box and plugged it in to complete the charge on the battery. I figure by the time I’m ready, I’ll have a full charge on my new phone.

In the meantime, I looked at the installed applications on my old now old phone. I mostly used my home screens to first write down the names of the critical apps that were being used on a regular basis. My goal was to back up the settings and data for those apps so I could easily move them to the new phone. My list of critical apps included applications such as Car Expense tracking, Notetaking, Email, and Maps. Then there was a second list for the apps I use occasionally, which I made in order to determine if I could eliminate any apps that I no longer needed. Finally, I made a list of the apps I’ve paid for. I wanted to make sure I was able to get these applications activated on the new phone without any hassles.

It is crucial to know your email address, password and server connection settings if you have company or other email you access aside from Gmail. You’ll also want to make sure you have your Gmail account usernames and passwords before you continue. I went through the settings menu of my old phone and recorded the details for any accounts that I found listed. For any accounts that were shown, I double checked all of my notes to make sure I had to correct passwords. Of critical importance is the primary Google account registered on the phone. If you don’t know what the password is on this account you’ll want to try recovery methods before transitioning to the new phone.

Next, I wanted to get a complete backup of my data. The first thing I did was go through my critical apps and looked in the settings for each one to see if any had a built in export function, some of these apps did provide a way to export data from the app to a file on the SD card. Next, I wanted to backup my contacts. Most phones store contacts not only in Gmail and Hotmail, but also on the phone itself. To make sure I had all my contacts stored, I used the app Backup Assistant Plus to perform a backup of the local contacts on my phone.

I then took a USB cable and attached the cable to my phone and to a computer. With the old phone in data transfer mode, I was able to access the contents of the internal phone memory and the SD card from my computer. Via the USB connection from my PC I selected all of the files and folders from the phone’s memory and copied them to a temporary directory on my computer.

With a complete list of email accounts, passwords for apps, registration codes, and a backup of my contacts and data in hand I phoned Verizon to activate my new phone. Give yourself some time for this part since customer service can be a lengthy process. In my case, it took about half an hour on the phone with them before everything was finalized. The time of day you call will greatly determine your wait time for a representative to assist.

Finally, the new phone had been activated and restarted. At this point I successfully activated my Gmail using the same primary username and password as was used on the old phone. Next, after activation I launched to the desktop of my new phone and opened Google Play from the settings menu. Depending on your phone, you may see the same app named Android Market or Google Play. Here, you can select which Account to sync with. This is usually your primary Google account. You then select” My Apps” and then reveal “ALL”. This list has everything you’ve installed on your phone, including free and paid apps. It should now be possible to re-download and install apps that you previously paid for.

Once I re-installed all my paid apps, the final challenge was determining how to restore my data. I attached the new phone to my computer with a USB cable and placed it into the correct mode to communicate with my PC. Once again I could see drives mapped for my phone’s memory and SD card. This step required a little creativity because I had to determine on a case by case basis which apps I needed to migrate data for and how I could import the data to my phone. Once I identified what I needed to transfer, I copied over to the SD card on the new phone data from the temporary directory I made earlier. For apps that previously allowed me to export data on my old phone, I imported the data from within the app using the file that was created from the export operation.

My next step was to restore my contacts which I did using the features of Backup Assistant Pus. And finally, I double checked that my new phone and all apps on the phone were running the latest versions. While not the easiest process in the world, I was up and running in less than two hours. Not bad for a fast new phone with all of the same programs and features I’d come to enjoy.

So, don’t be fearful of getting that upgrade! If you find yourself needing to replace your next smart device it’s possible to do it yourself. Just be sure to take down as much information as you can and make a good backup copy of everything using several methods. Alternatively, if you would like help from someone experienced or would like someone to do it for you, please feel free to give me a call.

Amateur Photography Takes to the Air

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Wouldn’t it be nice to take a picture with your SLR camera and use it just like you would a picture taken on your smart phone? Namely, the ability to share the photograph instantly to social media and upload it anywhere over the internet?
 

Anyone who has a decent smart phone can take some pretty good pictures “on the run”, but there may be times where you want more control over the exposure than what a phone can provide. Sometimes you might also want to use a tripod for stability or take the type of detailed photograph you just can’t accomplish with a smart phone.
 

A new, revolutionary product is available that makes all of this possible. It works with any SDHC appliance (non-geek speak: virtually any modern camera) and allows you to send images directly to your smart phone. This is the same size as a standard SDHC memory card and functions in a similar way, but there’s a built in wireless network. If your phone supports wireless networking mode, you can connect directly to the memory card on your camera and can then use your phone to post the images to your favorite social media outlet, such as Google+ or Facebook.
 

The Eye-Fi 8 GB Mobile XD SDHC Wireless Memory Card has several operating modes which allow you to interact with your computer, laptop, Android or IOS smart phone without using wires. Why wait until you get home to download pictures to your computer for sharing? Use your smart phone to instantly receive the picture and post it to Facebook or any of the other 25 supported imaging sites. It even has an endless picture mode which will remove the picture from the camera automatically once it is uploaded to the computer or smart phone. Your only limitation is the amount of memory on your destination device.
 

As with any technology, you should research comparability between your specific devices to be sure you get the results you expect. There are some known issues with different cameras that you might want to be aware of. The Eye-Fi User Forums and Frequently Asked Questions page can help. Since the price of of the Eye-Fi is high and there are risks, you may also want to check out reviews before taking the plunge.
 

Eye-Fi currently offers several products with varied features and prices. Current Eye-Fi SDHC card offerings include:
 

Eye-Fi Connect X2 Eye-Fi Mobile X2 Eye-Fi Pro X2

Memory Capacity

4 GB  X
8 GB  X  X

X2 Engine

Class 6  X  X  X
802.11b/g/n  X  X  X
Endless Memory  X  X  X
Direct Mode  X  X  X

Wireless Uploads

Photos and Videos  X  X  X
RAW  X

Cool Features

Online Sharing  X  X  X
Eye-Fi View  X  X  X
Hotspot Access

Upgradable

Upgradable

 X
Geotagging

Upgradable

Upgradable

 X
Eye-Fi Premium

Upgradable

Upgradable

Upgradable

So if Geotagging or RAW file is important to you, you’ll have to get the Pro X2 card. If you just need basic point, shoot and transfer, the least expensive Connect X2 is the card for you. All three models are currently available and are priced in ranges from $40.00 to $120.00, depending on where you look.
 

You can read more about Eye-Fi at http://www.eye.fi
 
 


 


>> Did you like this article? Ping it!

 


 


WE WORK HARD FOR YOU, BUT DON'T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT!
We've helped over 1,000 satisfied businesses throughout the Phoenix valley, click here to view some of their testimonials:

computer tech support near mePhoenix Computer Repair Testimonials on Google My Business My PC Techsmy PC Techs on TwitterFacebook Page for my PC TechsTech Support by United States Citizens Based in Arizona
Home | Computer Repair Phoenix | Managed IT | Web Development | Testimonials | Contact | Privacy | Pay | Blog RSS feed for my PC Techs news | Site Map

Phoenix Arizona: 125 N. 2nd Street, Suite 533 Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Phone: (602) 456-0150 | Email: admin@mypctechs.com
©2010 my PC Techs is owned and operated by Leo Polus, L.L.C., concept by Andre Morris
 

Managed IT and Computer Repair services for these Arizona cities: Ahwatukee, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, Chandler Heights, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Higley, Laveen, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe

To learn how Managed IT and Computer Repair services can help your Phoenix area business save money and increase productivity, click here to visit Phoenix Computer Repairs.

my PC Techs | Expert IT and Computer Repair Solutions You Can Trust | (602) 456-0150