Tag: Cloud

#TechTuesday – Increasing iPhone Storage

As smartphone use grows, so does the amount of data they produce. Whether it’s juggling photos and videos taken during trips, or movies and music to entertain while out, the amount of storage your phone holds is an important factor in how useful it is.

In fact, one of the first recommendations we have for those shopping for a new iPhone is getting the most storage you can afford as most modern smartphones don’t allow internal storage to be expanded easily or at all.

If you’re running out of storage, you can look into options like making use of flash drives with a Lightning port connector (such as the PNY and Leef) connect directly to your iPhone’s data port for access.

Other options include Wi-Fi enabled portable hard drives.

And definitely consider protecting your data through the use of cloud services, including Apple’s iCloud but also 3rd party services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Star Tribune – Step Up Your Online Security Smarts

Every time a news story hits about online accounts being broken into, it’s a reminder to take a look at just how secure your own accounts are. Katie Humphrey of the Star Tribune explains the different levels of online security you can setup.

In a perfect world, our accounts would be perfectly locked down. But there are some considerations to take into account when setting up your security.

How tight you lock down depends on your patience. “It’s security versus complexity,” said Derek Meister, an agent with Best Buy’s Geek Squad. “How complicated do you want to make that door lock before it becomes a pain for you to go through the door each day?”

Read more here.

WTAM 1100 – Slow WiFi Frequencies & How Much Cloud Access

 
WTAM 1100 Newsradio Cleveland OhioWe’re always looking at new ways to be more mobile with both our devices and our data. From wireless networking to the Cloud, we like the freedom of going digital without cables.

In this week’s Tech Tuesday segment on WTAM 1100 Newsradio, I spoke to Bill Wills about how your wireless router can slow down in a highly populated area like a large apartment building. Newer routers and devices that support the 5GHz frequency may help in these situations, but here are some additional pokey WiFi tips from USA Today.

We also talked about one consideration that may influence how much data you move to the Cloud, which is accessibility on the go. For more considerations for and against moving everything over to the Cloud, check out this Wall Street Journal debate.

CES 2012: Technology Awaits in Vegas!

If you’re a Geek Squad Agent, you’ve already shifted gears from the new year to new technology. For technology fans everywhere, that means the International Consumer Electronics Show(CES), held every January in Las Vegas Nevada.

CES 2012 will run from January 10th through the 13th and will bring together an estimated 140,000 people from throughout the consumer electronics industry. Retailers, manufacturers, software developers, even a few celebrities, and more will be there to show or be shown their current and upcoming technology. For Geek Squad, this means we get to take a look at all the gadgets and electronics we’ll be setting up for you over the next year.

Continue reading “CES 2012: Technology Awaits in Vegas!”

Amazon Takes Their Music to the Cloud

Amazon updated their MP3 download offerings this week with the introduction of their Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player service. The service provides 5GB of free online storage through their existing S3 cloud storage, but if you purchase an MP3 album from Amazon’s digital download store, you’ll get 20GB of space for 12 months free. Any music you purchase and have automatically saved to your Cloud Drive won’t count towards your space limit.

You aren’t limited to Amazon music, however, as you can upload your existing library with the downloadable import tool. Your complete collection can then be played through the Cloud Player website or the Android app that’s now available. No word on when or if there will be an Apple iOS app in the future.

It’s an interesting play in a world of digital downloads, and certainly one that will help draw users of iTunes and other online music stores to Amazon. On the other hand, it’s not quite the death of streaming services like Napster or Rdio.

If you find yourself buying more than one album per month, the pure streaming option these services provide may end up being cheaper, at least if you always have access to the Internet. Even in situations where your access may be limited or intermittent, such as with your smartphone, these services are now offering offline caches that allow you to store and play music while your device loses its signal.

Still, there will always be though who value owning their music outright versus streaming, even if that ownership consists of what is essentially a license to play a file downloaded from an online store.