Author: Derek

3 Tips to Prep Your Smartphone Data for Trade-In

Play Audio – WTAM 1100 Newsradio – Tech Tuesday – August 12th, 2014

WTAM 1100 Newsradio Cleveland OhioLooking to upgrade your old smartphone using Best Buy Trade-In, or just handing it down to a friend or family member?

Here are 3 steps you’ll want to take before handing the phone over.

1. Back Up Your Data – You may already have your phone setup to automatically sync to an online service like iCloud or your Google account, but it’s a good idea to go ahead and make a manual backup of all your data from the phone. This can be done using the backup tool from the phone’s maker, such as Apple’s iTunes, Samsung Kies, or the Windows Phone Desktop App.

2. Perform a Factory Reset – This process will wipe the phone, helping to clear out your personal data and any apps you’ve installed, and reset the phone back to its default state.

  • Android – Before resetting your phone, it’s a good idea to encrypt your data if you haven’t already. To do this, go to Settings, then click Security and select Encrypt phone. Once that is complete, go back to Settings, then select Backup & Reset, then select Factory data reset.
  • iPhone – For iOS devices, go to Settings, select General, and then Reset. From there, tap Erase All Content and Settings.
  • Windows Phone – Go to the App list and tap Settings. Select About, then Reset your phone. You’ll then tap Yes to the warnings about data loss (you did back your data up, right?) to start the factory reset process.

3. Change Account Passwords – For extra protection, change important passwords that you may have saved to your smartphone, like your Apple ID or Google account. The factory reset on the phone should remove any saved passwords along with your data, but this extra precaution can help.

You may also want to ensure that your phone is removed from any services, like Find My iPhone via icloud.com or as part of the two-factor authorization in your Google Account if you set it up.

Good Day with Doug Stephans – Tech Gets More Personal

Play Audio – Good Day with Doug Stephans – July 22nd, 2014

Geek Squad 20th BirthdayWe continue to celebrate Geek Squad’s 20th Birthday by talking to Good Day with Doug Stephans about the technology changes Geek Squad has seen over those last two decades.

Since the days of the shared family desktop computer, we’ve seen tech become more personal, first with everyone having their own laptop to the highly mobile world where everyone from teens to seniors has a personal smartphone with their own access to the Internet.

As devies become more personal, they also start to talk to each other. Geek Squad has changed over the years to help with all these connected devices, with Geek Squad Autotechs helping with bluetooth car audio, Home Theater Agents setting up connected TVs and even our appliance installation and repair teams are looking at washers and dryers that can connect to your home network to let you know when they’re ready to be unloaded.

Red Eye Radio – Geek Squad’s 20th Birthday

Play Audio – Red Eye Radio – July 18th, 2014

Geek Squad 20th BirthdayEric Harley from Red Eye Radio took some time from their Midnight to 5AM show for long-haul truckers to talk to me about Geek Squad’s 20th birthday and how Agents look forward to another 20 years of technology support for our clients.

The Apollo Guidance Computer

Apollo Guidance Computer

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was an amazing piece of technology for its time. At 12:16 PM EDT, on July 16th, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft began its translunar injection burn to leave its 115 mile-high Earth-orbit thanks to this navigation computer.

The AGC operated at 1.024 MHz, or one-million cycles per second, to help multitask 8 jobs, all with 2 kilobytes of memory.

You can try out the AGC yourself with the simulator found at here.

Your modern smartphone likely has a CPU designed to run at 2 GHz, or a billion cycles per second, and will often have 2 gigabytes of memory.

That said, comparing it to the modern smartphone isn’t really fair considering the AGC was a specialized computer designed to perform in a high-stress environment.

The Apollo Guidance Computer helped to take a spacecraft over 225 thousand miles to the Moon. Thanks to the efforts of the early space pioneers, your smartphone now uses an orbiting network of 24 GPS satellites.

Where will your technology take you today?

Apollo 11 Launches Into Space!

Apollo 11 Launches

45 years ago today, the Apollo 11 mission began with the launch of the Saturn V rocket at 9:32 AM EDT on July 16th, 1969.

The 4 day journey to the Moon was the result of decades of engineering, problem solving, and team work from tens of thousands of NASA employees.

The work of those scientists, engineers, astronauts and other employees still inspires our passion and curiosity around technology to this day.

Where will your curiosity take you?