Entries tagged with backup - Channel 10

A New App For Mobile Security: Maverick Mobile

sarahintampa — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:31:00 GMT

At this year’s DEMO conference, one of the best demos was from a Pune, India-based company called Maverick Mobile. Their new mobile application helps protect the data on your phone in the event the phone is lost or stolen. The app can be used to back up your data, encrypt it, track your device, retrieve your phonebook from a lost phone, disable the device remotely, and even sound a warning alarm if you know the device to be stolen. At time of launch, the Maverick Mobile app works on Nokia phones only, but in November, the company will debut their Windows Mobile and Blackberry versions.

The app incrementally backs up the data on your phone to their secure servers so you can always retrieve it easily. If your phone is stolen and a new SIM card is put into the device, the application recognizes the change and immediately encrypts all the data, including your phonebook, images, messages, etc. You can then retrieve the data from another phone that’s in your possession and – here’s the best part – that retrieval is done using SMS text messages that are automatically sent from the stolen phone...meaning the thief’s account is used to pay for them!

You can also hunt down your device once it's been re-activated. The mobile app can send your new phone the phone number, device ID, country code, operator name, and area code belonging to your stolen device.

However, the craziest thing about the Maverick Mobile app is that it actually lets you harass the thief! You can make spy calls to the device, which switches on the loudspeaker and mic of the stolen phone so you can listen in on the conversations made. But what’s even more hilarious is that you can disable the stolen phone remotely and then have the device sound a loud alarm that sounds like a siren. The only way to disable the siren is to remove the battery! You can also have the app send a customized message with the alarm (like “this phone has been reported stolen, to return it, please call…” (or whatever message you want).

I couldn’t find any company videos that would allow you to see the device in action, unfortunately. However, I did come across this video from eWEEK where they interview one of the company founders:

Save Your Spreadsheets With Autobackup

sarahintampa — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:26:00 GMT

I can’t tell you how many times I was asked this question when I worked in I.T.: “I accidentally just closed my spreadsheet and said NO to saving my changes…is it gone?” For whatever reason, some people’s fingers slip from time to time and the wrong button gets mashed. The shadow copies feature introduced in XP (aka “previous versions” in Vista) helped to some extent as does the AutoSave feature in Office. However, if you’re working with a spreadsheet undergoing a lot of revisions, what you might like even better is a tool that took periodic snapshots of the file at intervals you specify, allowing you to restore the spreadsheet to any particular moment in time.

As it turns out, there is a tool that does just that. I recently came across a review of it over on gHacks. The tool is an Excel plugin called Autobackup. With Autobackup installed, you can specify how often you want your spreadsheet backed up, how many copies it should save, and how long those copies should be saved (in days). Installation is simple – just got to Tools –> Add-ins and browse for the Autobackup file. Autobackup is available as a free download from here. An English and Portuguese version are available.

NitroDesk Launches New Media Edition

sarahintampa — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:00:00 GMT

NitroDesk is a program that helps photographers easily manage, upload, transfer, and sync their photos and/or videos from their PC to several online media sharing websites including PlanetEye, SmugMug, Zenfolio, Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, Facebook, ShutterPoint, and Windows Live Spaces for photos and Vimeo and YouTube for video. Nitrodesk also support workflow tools like Adobe LightRoom, Google Picasa2, and Microsoft Expression Media 2. With this latest release of Media Edition, users can now drag and drop photos, albums, or video from one site to another or upload to multiple sites simultaneously. For anyone who works with publishing their media to several different sites, NitroDesk Media Edition may just be worth the one-time fee of $29.99 to save you the hassle. To use this software, you’ll need Windows XP or Windows Vista, and Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0. You can watch a video about Nitrodesk here.

Automatically backup Media Center recordings.xml each time it changes

EnglishBloke — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:49:00 GMT

I created an application which backs up your recordings.xml schedule file in Media Center each time it is changed.

With this tool activated, if your computer ever crashes and the file is damaged you will have a very recent backup which you can simply copy over the old one.

I posted more about it over on my blog here

HP's Upline

sarahintampa — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:57:00 GMT

HP has just announced that they are launching a new online storage service called Upline. The service provides unlimited storage for all your documents, photos, music, videos, and anything else you have on your Windows PC. The interface makes Upline easy to use, which is important, and once installed, the service checks for new files every 15 minutes (by default) and then uploads them in the background to HP's servers.

A free version lets you store 1 GB of data for one year, but if you're really going to back up your computer, you'll need to go with one of the paid plans. For $59/year, a "Home" plan is available, which gives you unlimited storage and allows up to three PCs to connect. That's quite a bargain when you think about it. (But is it really unlimited?)

For businesses, the unlimited storage option can range up to $299 per year, depending on how many users and PCs you have.

While you're traveling, you can access your stored files from a web-based interface from which you can also email the files or publish them for public access.

If desired, you can specify the program to back up to a second hard drive, server, or PC on your local network, too.

There are, however, a couple of problems you should be aware of: Upline doesn't back up email archives or system restore files, but that may change in the future.

In the meantime, you can check out what Upline has to offer from the HP homepage for the service here.

Backup Your Smartphone for Free

sarahintampa — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:19:00 GMT

PIM Backup is a tool that lets you backup and restore information on your Windows Mobile device. The program backs up contacts, appointments, tasks, messages, call logs, speed dials, and your entire file system. The items that you want to backup is configurable, so you can add or remove items as necessary. The backup files can be stored on your device’s storage card and automatic backups can be scheduled to run as often as you want. PIM Backup works on Windows Mobile 2003SE, Windows Mobile 5.0, and Windows Mobile 6. (via Inside Microsoft)

Online Photo Backup With OneCare 2.0

sarahintampa — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:40:00 GMT

With the new version of Windows OneCare, there is a new tool called Online Photo Backup which brings you a new way to backup your digital photos. With Online Photo Backup, you can get 10 GB of online storage for your photos. This new feature is one of many that will be introduced in OneCare 2.0, currently in beta, but available for download here. The Online Photo Storage will be an optional add-on at an additional fee, but no word on how much it will be just yet.

The photo backup feature will give you peace of mind that your photos are backed up and safe at a secure off-site location. Additionally, the settings for online photo backup can be managed from one console for the multiple PCs that are authorized on your OneCare account. Sure, you could backup your photos by burning CDs, but who has the time for this anymore? Online Photo Backup represents the beginning of what's being called "Windows Live Cloud Infrastructure," and the 10 GB is just the beginning - over time, this could increase as demand grows. You can view a demo of this feature on the Windows Experience blog.

Backup Your Mobile Phone for Free

sarahintampa — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 03:38:00 GMT

The just-launched Cellfish service offers a way for mobile phone users to backup the content saved to their mobile phones for free. If you've ever lost your phone or replaced it with a new one, you've probably also lost some of the mobile content that was saved on your device. Now your favorite pictures, videos, music, wallpapers, and more can be stored safely and securely online. With this new service, you receive unlimited storage at a online digital "locker" which can be accessed from any PC or mobile phone with an internet connection.

In addition to storing your content online, you can also share this content with your friends. Sharing content is easy: you simply click on the content stored at Cellfish and then click on the "Share" button underneath the content image. You then type in your friend's phone number, email address, or Cellfish username and your friend receives a message with the link to the content. If he or she is also a registered user, they will be able to send the content to their digital locker and access it on their cellphone. The Cellfish website also offers a large selection of music, wallpapers, ringtones and videos available for download from the site. Some of the items are free and some can be purchased for an additional fee. The Cellfish website is certainly useful for anyone who uses a modern-day mobile device's many features beyond its ability to simply make and receive calls.

An Update on Windows Home Server

Jesse — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:59:00 GMT

Remember that up and coming Microsoft technology that's going to make storing all of your data a world easier? The machine that will sit quietly, backing up and sharing every bit and byte, and even giving you control of your home computer(s) from anywhere on the globe? Windows Home Server has moved into its second beta, and Joel Sider wanted to tell us all about it. Once registered and invited to this beta, the heavy testing and bug reports will help the team make WHS ironclad. Joel also gave us a peek at some other hardware ideas that could bring your home server out of the closet and onto the coffee table.