21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

<div style="width:320px;min-height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img src="http://zapt5.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/04/cloudsecrets_primary-100034887-gallery.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:320px;max-width:100%"></div> <div style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a href="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/12309-189045-1105-2?mpt=%%CACHEBUSTER%%" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);float:none;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:10px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/ads/DellLogo-Blu-54px.png);display:block;width:300px;min-height:30px;text-align:right;padding-right:30px;vertical-align:middle;line-height:30px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat" target="_blank">PRESENTED BY</a><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/business-marketing" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data, or automate uploads and downloads. Synchronize, of course. Score extra space without paying an extra cent. Run a basic Web site from a cloud service, manage media, or even fax.</span><br> </a></div><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Best of all, most of the following cloud secrets have a similar price tag: zero. Read on to learn how to leverage online storage services in ways you never dreamed possible.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">ORGANIZE AND AUTOMATE</h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong style>1. IFTTT is your cloud-data gofer</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/03/ifttt-100030922-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">IFTTT<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The amazing trigger service <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2029140/review-ifttt-connects-social-media-photo-and-other-web-services.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" title="Review: IFTTT connects social media, photo, and other Web services">If This Then That</a> was practically designed with cloud storage in mind. Like your own virtual gofer, you can set it to fetch and carry cloud-based data from one service to another. For example, it has a prewritten "recipe" that will<a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/62844" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">automatically upload to SkyDrive any Facebook photos you've been tagged in</a>. It has another that <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/46553" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">archives Gmail messages to your Box account</a>. You can even <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/56" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox</a>. Of course, those are just the recipes others have created. IFTTT also lets you cook up your own for just about any action/reaction you can imagine.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>2. One cloud service to rule them all</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="63" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/otixo-100034876-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="219"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It's not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you're after. <a href="http://otixo.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Otixo</a> makes this easier by giving you access to Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, SugarSync, and other services under one roof. You can search across all your accounts, preview and share documents and photos, and even move or copy files from one cloud to another. Otixo costs $4.99 per month, or $47.90 annually.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>3. Email attachments to your cloud drive</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="61" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/sendtodropbox-100034873-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="309"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Typically, when you want to add a file to your cloud account, you must jump through the hoops of uploading it via a browser or a desktop or mobile app. But there's another way: email. Evernote and SugarSync, for example, assign you a custom email address where you can forward any attachment. <a href="https://sendtodropbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Send to Dropbox</a> is a free service that forwards emailed attachments to your eponymous Dropbox folder. And <a href="http://drv.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Drv.io</a> (currently in beta) offers a similar capability for Google Drive users.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>4. Migrate your files from one cloud service to another</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> So you've run out of free storage space on Dropbox and want to move to SkyDrive's roomier digs. Just one problem: How do you get all your files from Cloud A to Cloud B? Try <a href="http://mover.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mover</a>, a free app that helps you transfer data from one storage service to another. It supports Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, SugarSync, company FTP servers, and just about every other online storage source. There's a bit of a learning curve, though, so you might need your local IT guru to get started.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>5. Make the cloud your default download destination</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> By default, most Web browsers deposit files in your Downloads folder, and then you turn around and upload those files to a cloud service. You can take out the middleman (i.e., you) by venturing into your browser's download settings and changing the destination to any folder that's already set to sync. Now you've got an easy, automated way to back up or share your downloads.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>6. Autosave Gmail attachments to the cloud</strong></h2><span><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">You already know that some online drives let you forward email attachments, but that's an extra step.</span><a href="http://attachments.me/" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px;color:rgb(37,167,215)">Attachments.me</a><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">, a free browser plug-in for Chrome and Firefox, offers one-click attachment uploading to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. You can also set up rules so that future emails from, say, a particular contact get automatically routed to a specific service.</span></h2> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><span style="font-size:15px">SYNCHRONIZE</span><br></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong>7. Sync unlimited folders among PCs<img alt="" border="0" height="405" src="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2012/04/cubby-11347903.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="750"></strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Cloud storage service <a href="http://www.cubby.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Cubby</a> operates much like Dropbox and its kind, but with one key advantage: It lets you sync unlimited folders between your PCs. You can use that feature to, say, share photo albums with family members or business documents with coworkers, or to back up important data to a spare PC. Everything you add to designated share folders gets automatically synced to your remote "cubbies."</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>8. Sync any folder to your SkyDrive account</strong></h2><a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="167" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-medium.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="300"></a>Microsoft SkyDrive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Microsoft's SkyDrive gives you 7GB for free, but there's one catch: Only files contained in your SkyDrive folder get synced to the service. Software developer Jan Hannemann's<a href="http://ssx.codeplex.com/releases/view/101941" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">SkyShellEx</a> works a little behind-the-scenes magic to let you sync any folder to your SkyDrive account. This trick does require letting it move your files from their original locations, but from your perspective, your folder structure will remain the same. (Read<a href="http://janhannemann.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/sync-any-folder-to-skydrive-reloaded/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Hannemann's blog post</a> for a more detailed explanation.)</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>9. Sync browser settings across all devices</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You've probably spent years building a library of bookmarks, so it makes sense to back them up. Chrome and Firefox offer built-in bookmark syncing, which preserves your favorites (and passwords) in the event of data loss and also syncs them to other PCs running the same browser.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/11/xmarks00-58-100012170-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Xmarks<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you use Internet Explorer or Safari, check out <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013681/review-xmarks-works-in-various-browsers-and-oss-to-sync-your-bookmarks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Xmarks review and download">Xmarks</a>, a free sync tool that works the same way, but it also lets you access your bookmarks in any Web browser on any device.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>STORAGE AND MORE STORAGE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>10. Get extra free space</strong></h2> <img alt="" border="0" height="352" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/dropbox_free_space-100034870-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Get more gigabytes.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> A free Dropbox account entitles you to 2GB of cloud storage, while SugarSync gives you 5GB. Not bad, but you can always use more. Thankfully, both services allow you to earn extra space without opening your wallet. For example, for each <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/referral-invite" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">friend you refer to SugarSync</a>, you get an extra 500MB. Dropbox matches that offer, but<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/getspace" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">rewards you with even more space</a>when you complete a "getting started" checklist, connect to your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and perform various other tasks.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>11. Create your own cloud storage service</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="248" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/owncloud-100034877-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="280">OwnCloud<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you run a website, you might have copious amounts of spare online storage. <a href="http://owncloud.org/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">OwnCloud</a> helps you turn it into your own private Dropbox, able to sync and share files, calendars, notes, and more. You can use it with an existing domain or even a spare Linux machine in your home or office, and from there the sky's the limit. Setup does require a bit of technical savvy, but Lifehacker has a great tutorial on<a href="http://lifehacker.com/5993596/how-to-set-up-your-own-private-cloud-storage-service-in-five-minutes-with-owncloud" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">getting started with OwnCloud</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>12. Share some space, get some space</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><a href="http://www.symform.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Symform </a>works off the idea that you have to give some cloud storage to get more cloud storage. The service gives you 10GB to start with, and you can earn lots more by contributing extra gigabytes from your own hard drive to its distributed network. Give 100GB of local storage, for example, and get 50GB of Symform storage. It's all secure, encrypted, and totally free.</p> <a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="387" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580"></a>The more cloud storage you share via Symform, the more you can get for yourself.</span> <div><span><br></span></div><div><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>13. Save Web content to read later</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/instapaperandpocket-100032895-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Instapaper and Pocket<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It happens all the time: You notice a great review or feature story on PCWorld.com (or some other site), but you don't have time to read it right now. With one click of a bookmarklet, you can "clip" that page for later viewing. Both <a href="http://www.instapaper.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Instapaper</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030081/review-pocket-lets-you-shelve-items-to-read-and-watch-when-the-time-is-right.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Pocket review and download">Pocket</a>can store your clips in the cloud and format them for easy, clutter-free reading on mobile devices.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>14. Stream your music library</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="343" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/google-play-music-100034822-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Play<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Liberate your music library from your PC by sending it to the cloud, making it available anywhere you go (and also acting as a handy backup). One of the best options is Google Play, which lets you upload up to 20,000 songs—including any you might have in iTunes—and stream them to other PCs and devices. Its Windows client automatically syncs newly added music, and there's a download option in case you need to restore your library.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>15. Publish a blog or website</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="83" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/pancakeio-100034874-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="303"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you need a quick-and-dirty website or you simply want to avoid paying domain and hosting charges, check out <a href="http://pancake.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Pancake.io</a>. This free tool turns your text files into webpages, and then it uploads them to your Dropbox account, which effectively serves as the host. For more advanced Web spinners, Pancake.io supports CSS, Markdown files, PDFs, GIFs, and other common file types.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>16. Back up your blog or website</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you blog about cupcakes or run an online cupcake business, it's vital to back up your site. You never know when a hacker might attack or a server might melt, destroying your hard work in the process. If you're a WordPress user, the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-backup-to-dropbox/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">WordPress Backup to Dropbox plug-in</a> does exactly what its name suggests. For everyone else, <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Backup Box</a> can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service. Both options are free.</p> <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="206" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/backup-box-100034927-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Backup Box can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service.</a><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>WORK OFFLINE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>17. Make your Google Docs available offline</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="390" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/googledriveoffline-100034814-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Drive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Google Docs is great for creating and editing documents of all stripes, but if you're cut off from the Internet, you're cut off from your files, right? Wrong:<a href="https://tools.google.com/dlpage/drive" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Google Drive for Windows</a> syncs your cloud drive to your local drive, making documents available even when you're offline. However, you'll need to use Chrome for your Web browser, at least for Docs purposes, add the Google Drive Chrome app, and <a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375012&topic=2375002&ctx=topic" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">enable offline access</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>18. Access your favorite Dropbox files offline</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> If you use the Dropbox app on your phone or tablet, there's a crafty way to make select documents available for offline viewing. Just open any given document, than tap the star icon to add it to your favorites list. The app stores those favorites locally, so you can access them even when there's no Internet connection—like when you're on a flight or subway train.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>FAX, PRINT, SCAN UTILITIES</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>19. Send and receive faxes</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">You can finally put the old fax machine out to pasture. Web-based <a href="http://www.hellofax.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">HelloFax</a>can integrate with most cloud storage services. Newly received fax pages will land right in your account for easy viewing, sharing, and archiving. Better still, you can fax documents directly from your cloud, meaning no more printing pages and then walking them to the fax machine or scanner.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>20. "Print" documents from your iDevice to Dropbox</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Collobos' <a href="http://www.collobos.com/index.php" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">FingerPrint software for Windows</a> allows your iPhone or iPad to print to any connected printer, but it also supports virtual printing to cloud services like Dropbox and Evernote. That means you can route pretty much any email, photo, webpage, or other printable item from your iDevice directly to an online account. The only rub: FingerPrint isn't free. It'll cost you $19.95.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>21. Turn your phone or tablet into a scanner</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="233" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/genius-scan-100034926-small.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="140">Genius Scan creates document images to store in the cloud.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The camera built into your smartphone or tablet probably has sufficient resolution to capture documents. All you need is the right app to deliver those "scans" to the cloud-storage service of your choice. For example,<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doc-scan-scanner-to-scan-pdf/id453312964?mt=8" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Doc Scan</a> (iOS, Free), <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thegrizzlylabs.geniusscan" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Genius Scan</a>(Android, $1.59) and <a href="http://handyscan.jdbpocketware.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Handyscan</a>(Windows Phone, $2.99) will take a snapshot of any document, convert it to PDF if needed, and sync it to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or a similar destination.</p> </div>

21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

PRESENTED BY Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data...

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21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

<div style="width:320px;min-height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img src="http://zapt5.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/04/cloudsecrets_primary-100034887-gallery.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:320px;max-width:100%"></div> <div style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a href="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/12309-189045-1105-2?mpt=%%CACHEBUSTER%%" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);float:none;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:10px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/ads/DellLogo-Blu-54px.png);display:block;width:300px;min-height:30px;text-align:right;padding-right:30px;vertical-align:middle;line-height:30px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat" target="_blank">PRESENTED BY</a><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/business-marketing" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data, or automate uploads and downloads. Synchronize, of course. Score extra space without paying an extra cent. Run a basic Web site from a cloud service, manage media, or even fax.</span><br> </a></div><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Best of all, most of the following cloud secrets have a similar price tag: zero. Read on to learn how to leverage online storage services in ways you never dreamed possible.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">ORGANIZE AND AUTOMATE</h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong style>1. IFTTT is your cloud-data gofer</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/03/ifttt-100030922-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">IFTTT<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The amazing trigger service <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2029140/review-ifttt-connects-social-media-photo-and-other-web-services.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" title="Review: IFTTT connects social media, photo, and other Web services">If This Then That</a> was practically designed with cloud storage in mind. Like your own virtual gofer, you can set it to fetch and carry cloud-based data from one service to another. For example, it has a prewritten "recipe" that will<a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/62844" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">automatically upload to SkyDrive any Facebook photos you've been tagged in</a>. It has another that <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/46553" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">archives Gmail messages to your Box account</a>. You can even <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/56" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox</a>. Of course, those are just the recipes others have created. IFTTT also lets you cook up your own for just about any action/reaction you can imagine.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>2. One cloud service to rule them all</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="63" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/otixo-100034876-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="219"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It's not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you're after. <a href="http://otixo.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Otixo</a> makes this easier by giving you access to Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, SugarSync, and other services under one roof. You can search across all your accounts, preview and share documents and photos, and even move or copy files from one cloud to another. Otixo costs $4.99 per month, or $47.90 annually.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>3. Email attachments to your cloud drive</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="61" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/sendtodropbox-100034873-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="309"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Typically, when you want to add a file to your cloud account, you must jump through the hoops of uploading it via a browser or a desktop or mobile app. But there's another way: email. Evernote and SugarSync, for example, assign you a custom email address where you can forward any attachment. <a href="https://sendtodropbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Send to Dropbox</a> is a free service that forwards emailed attachments to your eponymous Dropbox folder. And <a href="http://drv.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Drv.io</a> (currently in beta) offers a similar capability for Google Drive users.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>4. Migrate your files from one cloud service to another</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> So you've run out of free storage space on Dropbox and want to move to SkyDrive's roomier digs. Just one problem: How do you get all your files from Cloud A to Cloud B? Try <a href="http://mover.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mover</a>, a free app that helps you transfer data from one storage service to another. It supports Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, SugarSync, company FTP servers, and just about every other online storage source. There's a bit of a learning curve, though, so you might need your local IT guru to get started.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>5. Make the cloud your default download destination</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> By default, most Web browsers deposit files in your Downloads folder, and then you turn around and upload those files to a cloud service. You can take out the middleman (i.e., you) by venturing into your browser's download settings and changing the destination to any folder that's already set to sync. Now you've got an easy, automated way to back up or share your downloads.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>6. Autosave Gmail attachments to the cloud</strong></h2><span><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">You already know that some online drives let you forward email attachments, but that's an extra step.</span><a href="http://attachments.me/" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px;color:rgb(37,167,215)">Attachments.me</a><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">, a free browser plug-in for Chrome and Firefox, offers one-click attachment uploading to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. You can also set up rules so that future emails from, say, a particular contact get automatically routed to a specific service.</span></h2> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><span style="font-size:15px">SYNCHRONIZE</span><br></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong>7. Sync unlimited folders among PCs<img alt="" border="0" height="405" src="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2012/04/cubby-11347903.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="750"></strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Cloud storage service <a href="http://www.cubby.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Cubby</a> operates much like Dropbox and its kind, but with one key advantage: It lets you sync unlimited folders between your PCs. You can use that feature to, say, share photo albums with family members or business documents with coworkers, or to back up important data to a spare PC. Everything you add to designated share folders gets automatically synced to your remote "cubbies."</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>8. Sync any folder to your SkyDrive account</strong></h2><a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="167" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-medium.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="300"></a>Microsoft SkyDrive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Microsoft's SkyDrive gives you 7GB for free, but there's one catch: Only files contained in your SkyDrive folder get synced to the service. Software developer Jan Hannemann's<a href="http://ssx.codeplex.com/releases/view/101941" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">SkyShellEx</a> works a little behind-the-scenes magic to let you sync any folder to your SkyDrive account. This trick does require letting it move your files from their original locations, but from your perspective, your folder structure will remain the same. (Read<a href="http://janhannemann.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/sync-any-folder-to-skydrive-reloaded/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Hannemann's blog post</a> for a more detailed explanation.)</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>9. Sync browser settings across all devices</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You've probably spent years building a library of bookmarks, so it makes sense to back them up. Chrome and Firefox offer built-in bookmark syncing, which preserves your favorites (and passwords) in the event of data loss and also syncs them to other PCs running the same browser.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/11/xmarks00-58-100012170-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Xmarks<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you use Internet Explorer or Safari, check out <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013681/review-xmarks-works-in-various-browsers-and-oss-to-sync-your-bookmarks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Xmarks review and download">Xmarks</a>, a free sync tool that works the same way, but it also lets you access your bookmarks in any Web browser on any device.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>STORAGE AND MORE STORAGE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>10. Get extra free space</strong></h2> <img alt="" border="0" height="352" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/dropbox_free_space-100034870-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Get more gigabytes.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> A free Dropbox account entitles you to 2GB of cloud storage, while SugarSync gives you 5GB. Not bad, but you can always use more. Thankfully, both services allow you to earn extra space without opening your wallet. For example, for each <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/referral-invite" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">friend you refer to SugarSync</a>, you get an extra 500MB. Dropbox matches that offer, but<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/getspace" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">rewards you with even more space</a>when you complete a "getting started" checklist, connect to your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and perform various other tasks.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>11. Create your own cloud storage service</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="248" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/owncloud-100034877-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="280">OwnCloud<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you run a website, you might have copious amounts of spare online storage. <a href="http://owncloud.org/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">OwnCloud</a> helps you turn it into your own private Dropbox, able to sync and share files, calendars, notes, and more. You can use it with an existing domain or even a spare Linux machine in your home or office, and from there the sky's the limit. Setup does require a bit of technical savvy, but Lifehacker has a great tutorial on<a href="http://lifehacker.com/5993596/how-to-set-up-your-own-private-cloud-storage-service-in-five-minutes-with-owncloud" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">getting started with OwnCloud</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>12. Share some space, get some space</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><a href="http://www.symform.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Symform </a>works off the idea that you have to give some cloud storage to get more cloud storage. The service gives you 10GB to start with, and you can earn lots more by contributing extra gigabytes from your own hard drive to its distributed network. Give 100GB of local storage, for example, and get 50GB of Symform storage. It's all secure, encrypted, and totally free.</p> <a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="387" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580"></a>The more cloud storage you share via Symform, the more you can get for yourself.</span> <div><span><br></span></div><div><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>13. Save Web content to read later</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/instapaperandpocket-100032895-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Instapaper and Pocket<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It happens all the time: You notice a great review or feature story on PCWorld.com (or some other site), but you don't have time to read it right now. With one click of a bookmarklet, you can "clip" that page for later viewing. Both <a href="http://www.instapaper.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Instapaper</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030081/review-pocket-lets-you-shelve-items-to-read-and-watch-when-the-time-is-right.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Pocket review and download">Pocket</a>can store your clips in the cloud and format them for easy, clutter-free reading on mobile devices.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>14. Stream your music library</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="343" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/google-play-music-100034822-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Play<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Liberate your music library from your PC by sending it to the cloud, making it available anywhere you go (and also acting as a handy backup). One of the best options is Google Play, which lets you upload up to 20,000 songs—including any you might have in iTunes—and stream them to other PCs and devices. Its Windows client automatically syncs newly added music, and there's a download option in case you need to restore your library.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>15. Publish a blog or website</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="83" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/pancakeio-100034874-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="303"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you need a quick-and-dirty website or you simply want to avoid paying domain and hosting charges, check out <a href="http://pancake.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Pancake.io</a>. This free tool turns your text files into webpages, and then it uploads them to your Dropbox account, which effectively serves as the host. For more advanced Web spinners, Pancake.io supports CSS, Markdown files, PDFs, GIFs, and other common file types.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>16. Back up your blog or website</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you blog about cupcakes or run an online cupcake business, it's vital to back up your site. You never know when a hacker might attack or a server might melt, destroying your hard work in the process. If you're a WordPress user, the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-backup-to-dropbox/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">WordPress Backup to Dropbox plug-in</a> does exactly what its name suggests. For everyone else, <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Backup Box</a> can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service. Both options are free.</p> <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="206" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/backup-box-100034927-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Backup Box can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service.</a><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>WORK OFFLINE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>17. Make your Google Docs available offline</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="390" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/googledriveoffline-100034814-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Drive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Google Docs is great for creating and editing documents of all stripes, but if you're cut off from the Internet, you're cut off from your files, right? Wrong:<a href="https://tools.google.com/dlpage/drive" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Google Drive for Windows</a> syncs your cloud drive to your local drive, making documents available even when you're offline. However, you'll need to use Chrome for your Web browser, at least for Docs purposes, add the Google Drive Chrome app, and <a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375012&topic=2375002&ctx=topic" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">enable offline access</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>18. Access your favorite Dropbox files offline</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> If you use the Dropbox app on your phone or tablet, there's a crafty way to make select documents available for offline viewing. Just open any given document, than tap the star icon to add it to your favorites list. The app stores those favorites locally, so you can access them even when there's no Internet connection—like when you're on a flight or subway train.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>FAX, PRINT, SCAN UTILITIES</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>19. Send and receive faxes</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">You can finally put the old fax machine out to pasture. Web-based <a href="http://www.hellofax.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">HelloFax</a>can integrate with most cloud storage services. Newly received fax pages will land right in your account for easy viewing, sharing, and archiving. Better still, you can fax documents directly from your cloud, meaning no more printing pages and then walking them to the fax machine or scanner.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>20. "Print" documents from your iDevice to Dropbox</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Collobos' <a href="http://www.collobos.com/index.php" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">FingerPrint software for Windows</a> allows your iPhone or iPad to print to any connected printer, but it also supports virtual printing to cloud services like Dropbox and Evernote. That means you can route pretty much any email, photo, webpage, or other printable item from your iDevice directly to an online account. The only rub: FingerPrint isn't free. It'll cost you $19.95.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>21. Turn your phone or tablet into a scanner</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="233" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/genius-scan-100034926-small.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="140">Genius Scan creates document images to store in the cloud.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The camera built into your smartphone or tablet probably has sufficient resolution to capture documents. All you need is the right app to deliver those "scans" to the cloud-storage service of your choice. For example,<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doc-scan-scanner-to-scan-pdf/id453312964?mt=8" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Doc Scan</a> (iOS, Free), <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thegrizzlylabs.geniusscan" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Genius Scan</a>(Android, $1.59) and <a href="http://handyscan.jdbpocketware.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Handyscan</a>(Windows Phone, $2.99) will take a snapshot of any document, convert it to PDF if needed, and sync it to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or a similar destination.</p> </div>

21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

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Gionee Elife E7: First impressions

<div class="timetxt" style="font-size:0.75em;line-height:12px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 10px"><br></div><div class="photo" style="padding:10px 0px 10px 10px;font-size:0.75em;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);line-height:14px"> <img border="0" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/thumb.cms?msid=27979322&width=283&resizemode=4" style="width: 286px; height: 209px; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: left;"><div class="clear" style="clear:both;height:3px"> </div>The Gionee Elife E7 is the Chinese device maker's latest flagship handset.</div><div class="storycontent_outer" style="font-size:0.91em;line-height:20px;font-family:georgia;margin:0px;padding:1px 5px"><div class="storycontent" style="font-size:0.91em;margin:0px;padding:5px"> Chinese handset maker Gionee has launched its new flagship phone, Gionee Elife E7, in the Indian market. The phone <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-24/hardware/45539438_1_quad-core-processor-jelly-bean-camera" target="_blank">boasts of</a> a full-HD screen and high-end hardware including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, in addition to a slim, attractive form factor. We got a chance to spend some time with the phone, here are our first impressions: <br> <br>At first glance, Gionee Elife E7 looks like a taller version of the Elife E6. However, on closer inspection, you'll notice that it looks more rectangular, majorly due to the lack of rounded corners. The phone's top and bottom edges, however, are rounded, just like the ones seen in Huawei Ascend P6. <br> <br>The phone is made of good quality plastic material, but sports a glossy finish that makes it prone to smudges. <br><br>The front of the phone is dominated by 5.5-inch Full-HD (JDI) display that sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and pixel density of 401ppi. It also features Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection. We found the display to be adequately bright, with images and text appearing sharp and crisp. There's minimal bezel at the left and right side of the display panel, giving the phone an edgy look. <br> <br>The three capacitive physical buttons for Menu, Home and Back are placed just below the display. The 8MP front-facing camera lens is located above the display, along with the sensor array. There's no branding on the front. <br> <br>The left edge of the phone features a sim card tray, while the volume rocker key sits alone at the right edge. The power key and the 3.5mm headset jack are placed at the top edge, while the micro USB port is at the bottom. We wish Gionee had put the Power key at the right or left edge, as its present location makes it cumbersome to use. The keys are made of plastic and offer above average tactile feedback.<br> <br><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/photo/27979503.cms" style="width: 288px; height: 208px;"><br><br><em>The Gionee Elife E7's back panel</em></td> <td><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/photo/27979509.cms" style="width: 288px; height: 208px;"><br><br><em>The phone's right edge</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Gionee Elife E7 doesn't have a removable back. The phone's back is curved and sports a glossy finish that is prone to smudges. The large camera lens (housing a 16MP sensor) is placed at the top, similar to the Nokia Lumia 1520, along with a small LED flash. There's Gionee branding towards the lower part of the back. The phone was good to hold, despite the glossy back. <br> <br>Gionee Elife E7 runs a heavily customised build of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, called Amigo 2.0, which is second iteration of its UI skin. The skin is similar to Xiaomi's MiUi ROM and doesn't feature a separate app launcher. Instead, the app icons are merged with the home screen, similar to the iPhone. Even the multitasking menu of the phone is similar to the card-based multitasking menu introduced first in webOS and now in Apple's iOS 7. During our brief use of the phone, we didn't encounter any stutters or lag while launching apps or going back to the home screen, however, we still feel that Gionee has gone overboard on transition effects and animations. <br> <br>Elife E7's USP is its high-end hardware that includes a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB RAM (3GB for the 32GB version) and Adreno 330 GPU, and a 16MP rear camera with 1.34m pixel size. We weren't able to play around extensively with the phone's camera but clicking a casual indoor shot (under fluorescent light) in the default mode, we observed some minor noise, and slight aberration in colours, though the level of detail was pretty good. <br> </div></div>

Gionee Elife E7: First impressions

The Gionee Elife E7 is the Chinese device maker's latest flagship handset. Chinese handset maker Gionee has launched its new flags...

Read more »

Gionee Elife E7: First impressions

<div class="timetxt" style="font-size:0.75em;line-height:12px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 10px"><br></div><div class="photo" style="padding:10px 0px 10px 10px;font-size:0.75em;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);line-height:14px"> <img border="0" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/thumb.cms?msid=27979322&width=283&resizemode=4" style="width: 286px; height: 209px; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: left;"><div class="clear" style="clear:both;height:3px"> </div>The Gionee Elife E7 is the Chinese device maker's latest flagship handset.</div><div class="storycontent_outer" style="font-size:0.91em;line-height:20px;font-family:georgia;margin:0px;padding:1px 5px"><div class="storycontent" style="font-size:0.91em;margin:0px;padding:5px"> Chinese handset maker Gionee has launched its new flagship phone, Gionee Elife E7, in the Indian market. The phone <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-24/hardware/45539438_1_quad-core-processor-jelly-bean-camera" target="_blank">boasts of</a> a full-HD screen and high-end hardware including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, in addition to a slim, attractive form factor. We got a chance to spend some time with the phone, here are our first impressions: <br> <br>At first glance, Gionee Elife E7 looks like a taller version of the Elife E6. However, on closer inspection, you'll notice that it looks more rectangular, majorly due to the lack of rounded corners. The phone's top and bottom edges, however, are rounded, just like the ones seen in Huawei Ascend P6. <br> <br>The phone is made of good quality plastic material, but sports a glossy finish that makes it prone to smudges. <br><br>The front of the phone is dominated by 5.5-inch Full-HD (JDI) display that sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and pixel density of 401ppi. It also features Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection. We found the display to be adequately bright, with images and text appearing sharp and crisp. There's minimal bezel at the left and right side of the display panel, giving the phone an edgy look. <br> <br>The three capacitive physical buttons for Menu, Home and Back are placed just below the display. The 8MP front-facing camera lens is located above the display, along with the sensor array. There's no branding on the front. <br> <br>The left edge of the phone features a sim card tray, while the volume rocker key sits alone at the right edge. The power key and the 3.5mm headset jack are placed at the top edge, while the micro USB port is at the bottom. We wish Gionee had put the Power key at the right or left edge, as its present location makes it cumbersome to use. The keys are made of plastic and offer above average tactile feedback.<br> <br><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/photo/27979503.cms" style="width: 288px; height: 208px;"><br><br><em>The Gionee Elife E7's back panel</em></td> <td><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/photo/27979509.cms" style="width: 288px; height: 208px;"><br><br><em>The phone's right edge</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Gionee Elife E7 doesn't have a removable back. The phone's back is curved and sports a glossy finish that is prone to smudges. The large camera lens (housing a 16MP sensor) is placed at the top, similar to the Nokia Lumia 1520, along with a small LED flash. There's Gionee branding towards the lower part of the back. The phone was good to hold, despite the glossy back. <br> <br>Gionee Elife E7 runs a heavily customised build of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, called Amigo 2.0, which is second iteration of its UI skin. The skin is similar to Xiaomi's MiUi ROM and doesn't feature a separate app launcher. Instead, the app icons are merged with the home screen, similar to the iPhone. Even the multitasking menu of the phone is similar to the card-based multitasking menu introduced first in webOS and now in Apple's iOS 7. During our brief use of the phone, we didn't encounter any stutters or lag while launching apps or going back to the home screen, however, we still feel that Gionee has gone overboard on transition effects and animations. <br> <br>Elife E7's USP is its high-end hardware that includes a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB RAM (3GB for the 32GB version) and Adreno 330 GPU, and a 16MP rear camera with 1.34m pixel size. We weren't able to play around extensively with the phone's camera but clicking a casual indoor shot (under fluorescent light) in the default mode, we observed some minor noise, and slight aberration in colours, though the level of detail was pretty good. <br> </div></div>

Gionee Elife E7: First impressions

The Gionee Elife E7 is the Chinese device maker's latest flagship handset. Chinese handset maker Gionee has launched its new flags...

Read more »

Microsoft launches new safety application

<div class="wx-articleDisplay-title" style="margin:0px;padding:2px 10px;font-size:1.5em;font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px">'Guardian' can be used to alert friends and family during an emergency</span><br> </div><div class="wx-articleDisplay-text" style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Tech major Microsoft on Thursday launched 'Guardian,' a new safety application (app), that enables friends and family of Windows Phone users to track them in real time.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Available exclusively for Windows Phone users, Guardian's 'track me' feature allows friends and family to track them using Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs, a statement issued by Microsoft here said.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">"Guardian users can call for help through an 'SOS' alert button and also connect to security agencies, police and hospitals easily via this app in times of distress," the statement said.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Guardian was developed over six months by a group of enthusiastic Microsoft employees in India, within the Microsoft Garage, a global employee innovation initiative that gives the employees an outlet to explore ideas. "Our employees wanted to do something to enable people to feel safer in our cities. So they used their spare time to develop Guardian," Managing Director of Microsoft IT India Raj Biyani said in a statement. Guardian is a robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities than any other comparable app available to Indian smartphone users today, he claimed.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">To use Guardian effectively, users need to add the names of friends, family members and security groups to the settings. In an emergency situation, the app can be used to alert them, via the SOS button. All the user has to do is tap the SOS button. The phone then sends a distress SMS to all buddy mobiles, notifying them of the emergency along with location details, Microsoft said. "At the same time, the SOS button also sends emails to buddy email IDs and posts to private Facebook groups, if registered."</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Pointing out that Guardian uses Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs extensively and can help the authorities and medical teams track the user, the statement said the phone can be traced even if it is broken. The application is capable of one touch video recording that can be used as evidence.</p> </div></div>

Microsoft launches new safety application

'Guardian' can be used to alert friends and family during an emergency Tech major Microsoft on Thursday launched 'Guardian,...

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Microsoft launches new safety application

<div class="wx-articleDisplay-title" style="margin:0px;padding:2px 10px;font-size:1.5em;font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px">'Guardian' can be used to alert friends and family during an emergency</span><br> </div><div class="wx-articleDisplay-text" style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Tech major Microsoft on Thursday launched 'Guardian,' a new safety application (app), that enables friends and family of Windows Phone users to track them in real time.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Available exclusively for Windows Phone users, Guardian's 'track me' feature allows friends and family to track them using Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs, a statement issued by Microsoft here said.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">"Guardian users can call for help through an 'SOS' alert button and also connect to security agencies, police and hospitals easily via this app in times of distress," the statement said.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Guardian was developed over six months by a group of enthusiastic Microsoft employees in India, within the Microsoft Garage, a global employee innovation initiative that gives the employees an outlet to explore ideas. "Our employees wanted to do something to enable people to feel safer in our cities. So they used their spare time to develop Guardian," Managing Director of Microsoft IT India Raj Biyani said in a statement. Guardian is a robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities than any other comparable app available to Indian smartphone users today, he claimed.</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">To use Guardian effectively, users need to add the names of friends, family members and security groups to the settings. In an emergency situation, the app can be used to alert them, via the SOS button. All the user has to do is tap the SOS button. The phone then sends a distress SMS to all buddy mobiles, notifying them of the emergency along with location details, Microsoft said. "At the same time, the SOS button also sends emails to buddy email IDs and posts to private Facebook groups, if registered."</p> <p style="margin:10px 0px;padding:0px">Pointing out that Guardian uses Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs extensively and can help the authorities and medical teams track the user, the statement said the phone can be traced even if it is broken. The application is capable of one touch video recording that can be used as evidence.</p> </div></div>

Microsoft launches new safety application

'Guardian' can be used to alert friends and family during an emergency Tech major Microsoft on Thursday launched 'Guardian,...

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Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000

<h1 class="blogtitle entry-title" itemprop="itemReviewed" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Thing" style="margin:18px 0px 20px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Abel,arial,sans-serif;font-size:35px;font-weight:normal;line-height:40px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(17,17,17)"> <img alt="Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000" class="scale-with-grid" src="http://gigjets.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Galaxy-Grand-2-India-Jan.jpg" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;" title=""></h1> <div class="blogcontent" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Ubuntu,arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><div class="leftblogcontent" style="margin:0px 30px 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;width:300px"> <div class="details" style="margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:15px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;background-color:rgb(242,242,242)"> <img alt="Swapnil Kale" class="avatar avatar-64 photo" height="64" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/8c47b638763bd83f581159bdc106d159?s=64&d=&r=G" style="margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; float: left; border-top-left-radius: 100px; border-top-right-radius: 100px; border-bottom-right-radius: 100px; border-bottom-left-radius: 100px; height: auto !important;" width="64"><span style="font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-align:justify;font-weight:bold">Samsung already has a number of phones in the market and soon joining this list will be the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 which will be available for purchase sometime in January. However, at the moment the company has not revealed the price, but it is expected to be priced under Rs 25,000.</span></div> </div><div class="KonaBody" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify"> <span id="more-14316" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"></span></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify"> This <a href="http://gigjets.com/tag/Samsung/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(97,148,188)" target="_blank">Samsung</a> smartphone is the successor to the Galaxy Grand which has already been a hit in the Indian market. The Galaxy Grand 2 has some significant improvements over its predecessor.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The faux leather back which was introduced with the Galaxy Note 3 will be present on the Galaxy Grand 2 as well. Apart from the new design this upgraded smartphone also features improvements in regards to the hardware.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The Galaxy Grand 2 features a 5.25-inch 720p resolution display and it supports Samsung's Multi-Window feature which makes multitasking a little more convenient on devices with big displays. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor which is clocked at 1.2GHz and includes 1.5GB of RAM.</p> <div style="margin:20px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;float:none;text-align:center"><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;width:468px;height:60px"><ins style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:none;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:inline-table;height:60px;width:468px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:none;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:block;height:60px;width:468px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins></div> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">It comes pre-loaded with <a href="http://gigjets.com/tag/Android-4-3-Jelly-Bean/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(97,148,188)" target="_blank">Android 4.3 Jelly Bean</a> which will be customized with Samsung's own user interface. In terms of the connectivity the device supports 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS with GLONASS capability.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The smartphone has 8GB of built-in storage and it supports expandable storage up to 64GB using a microSD card. The device is equipped with a 2,600 mAh battery which is rated to provide up to 10 hours of playback and 17 hours of talktime.</p> </div></div>

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000

Samsung already has a number of phones in the market and soon joining this list will be the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 which will be ava...

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Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000

<h1 class="blogtitle entry-title" itemprop="itemReviewed" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Thing" style="margin:18px 0px 20px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Abel,arial,sans-serif;font-size:35px;font-weight:normal;line-height:40px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(17,17,17)"> <img alt="Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000" class="scale-with-grid" src="http://gigjets.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Galaxy-Grand-2-India-Jan.jpg" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;" title=""></h1> <div class="blogcontent" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Ubuntu,arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><div class="leftblogcontent" style="margin:0px 30px 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;width:300px"> <div class="details" style="margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:15px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;background-color:rgb(242,242,242)"> <img alt="Swapnil Kale" class="avatar avatar-64 photo" height="64" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/8c47b638763bd83f581159bdc106d159?s=64&d=&r=G" style="margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; float: left; border-top-left-radius: 100px; border-top-right-radius: 100px; border-bottom-right-radius: 100px; border-bottom-left-radius: 100px; height: auto !important;" width="64"><span style="font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-align:justify;font-weight:bold">Samsung already has a number of phones in the market and soon joining this list will be the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 which will be available for purchase sometime in January. However, at the moment the company has not revealed the price, but it is expected to be priced under Rs 25,000.</span></div> </div><div class="KonaBody" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify"> <span id="more-14316" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"></span></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify"> This <a href="http://gigjets.com/tag/Samsung/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(97,148,188)" target="_blank">Samsung</a> smartphone is the successor to the Galaxy Grand which has already been a hit in the Indian market. The Galaxy Grand 2 has some significant improvements over its predecessor.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The faux leather back which was introduced with the Galaxy Note 3 will be present on the Galaxy Grand 2 as well. Apart from the new design this upgraded smartphone also features improvements in regards to the hardware.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The Galaxy Grand 2 features a 5.25-inch 720p resolution display and it supports Samsung's Multi-Window feature which makes multitasking a little more convenient on devices with big displays. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor which is clocked at 1.2GHz and includes 1.5GB of RAM.</p> <div style="margin:20px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;float:none;text-align:center"><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;width:468px;height:60px"><ins style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:none;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:inline-table;height:60px;width:468px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:none;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;display:block;height:60px;width:468px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins></div> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">It comes pre-loaded with <a href="http://gigjets.com/tag/Android-4-3-Jelly-Bean/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(97,148,188)" target="_blank">Android 4.3 Jelly Bean</a> which will be customized with Samsung's own user interface. In terms of the connectivity the device supports 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS with GLONASS capability.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 0.21cm;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify">The smartphone has 8GB of built-in storage and it supports expandable storage up to 64GB using a microSD card. The device is equipped with a 2,600 mAh battery which is rated to provide up to 10 hours of playback and 17 hours of talktime.</p> </div></div>

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to launch in January to be priced under Rs 25,000

Samsung already has a number of phones in the market and soon joining this list will be the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 which will be ava...

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Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="shutterstock 104980358" class="largeImage imgId100221529 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt3.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/shutterstock_104980358-100221529-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/security" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are some lessons to be learned—something to provide a foundation for stronger protection and a safer online and mobile world in 2014 and beyond.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">With each passing year, the world of technology evolves and improves, and that includes building stronger defenses against cybersecurity threats. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are continuously adapting and acquiring new techniques, too, and successfully exploiting emerging technologies in a perpetual game of security leapfrog.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Here's the 2013 security highlight—er, lowlight—reel.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Ransomware</strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The concept of ransomware is simple: Attackers encrypt your data or lock you out of your PC or device using malware exploits, and then demand payment in exchange for restoring your access.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The biggest ransomware threat of 2013 was CryptoLocker. A recent report from Dell security researchers suggests that the <a href="http://www.secureworks.com/cyber-threat-intelligence/threats/cryptolocker-ransomware/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">CryptoLocker crooks raked in $30 million </a>in only 100 days. That's $300,000 a day on average from users paying the ransom to get access to their data again.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"2013 saw a significant trend toward ransomware because cyberattackers were able to utilize Tor and Bitcoin to anonymously blackmail people into paying for access to their own data," says Ken Westin, security researcher for Tripwire.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The CryptoLocker ransom is generally $300. If you don't have a recent backup of your data, you don't have many options—either pay the ransom, or lose all of your data and start over from scratch. On the positive side, the criminals do, in fact, follow through on their promise to return your PC or data once you've paid the ransom.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"This trend will accelerate and migrate to mobile devices in 2014," Westin says. "There's an enormous number of consumers to target who are dependent on the data and services in their mobile device. More than half of mobile-device users don't use even the most basic security precautions, making them easy prey for cyberattackers."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, warns that traditional defenses may not offer much protection against CryptoLocker. The attack does not require any special access or privileges, so it's very difficult to prevent using standard computer security tactics. "XKCD had it absolutely right in its April 2013 comic strip," he says. "If all my important data is my user data, the malware does not need to escalate to administrator to wreak havoc."</p> <img alt="user data" height="627" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/user-data-100221528-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><small class="credit" style="font-size:9px;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;display:block;float:left;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/backgroundwhite70.png);color:rgb(51,51,51);padding:1px 3px 2px;background-repeat:initial initial">XKCD</small><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Traditional security measures are no match for CryptoLocker, which needs no special privileges to access your data.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You really have only one way to protect yourself against ransomware threats: You must <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2065126/the-absurdly-simple-guide-to-backing-up-your-pc.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">back up your data</a> on a regular basis. If your system is compromised by ransomware, you can simply restore your own data from the backup rather than paying the extortionists.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Mobile malware</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The overlap between ransomware and mobile security brings us to the next security trend of 2013: mobile malware. The volume of mobile malware has continued to grow exponentially, as cybercriminals try to take advantage of the fertile new territory.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The trend is alarming, but such reports also seem a bit "the sky is falling" at this point. Security vendors keep telling us that the volume of mobile malware is growing at a distressing pace, yet we haven't really seen a significant malware attack against mobile devices in the real world.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> It's only a matter of time, though, before criminals move beyond the testing and proof-of-concept phase, and actually plant a malicious payload. The attack may not be as pervasive or obvious as old-school PC malware, because attackers have learned that flying under the radar and avoiding detection is a more lucrative strategy.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard says that it has started to see evidence of a threat called AndroRAT, which attackers can deliver as a Trojan horse buried within an otherwise normal app. The RAT, or remote application tool, enables the attacker to send SMS text messages from the infected smartphone, monitor calls and SMS texts, direct the device's browser to a specific URL, or perform a variety of other actions that could serve either to compromise personal information or to siphon funds from the victim.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">We're still waiting for "The Big One," but mobile malware will eventually live up to the hype—probably when users least expect it.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong style>Data breaches</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you didn't already follow the established practice of changing your passwords every few months, 2013 probably left you little choice as sites and services forced users to choose new passwords in the wake of data breaches. <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036610/why-changing-your-livingsocial-password-won-t-save-you.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Living Social</a>, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030052/evernote-hack-shows-that-passwords-arent-good-enough.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Evernote</a>, and<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2059002/adobe-security-breach-worse-than-originally-thought.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Adobe</a> all experienced major data breaches in which tens of millions of user accounts were compromised, and passwords were exposed.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"One could argue that 2013 was 'The Year of Stolen Credentials,'" says Dwayne Melancon, CTO of Tripwire. "According to DataLossDB, the top five largest breaches in 2013 affected about 450 million records—that's a lot of instances of '12345,' 'password,' and 'monkey.' The most alarming thing is that many of these stolen passwords were found to have been stored in insecure ways despite plenty of warnings about using strong cryptography."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">To cap things off, we found out that<a href="http://blogs.csoonline.com/data-privacy/2880/attention-target-shoppers-what-you-need-know-about-credit-data-breach" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Target was the victim of cybercrooks</a>. Between Black Friday and December 15, hackers collected credit card details on about 40 million people who had shopped in person at the popular retail chain.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Cyberespionage</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The year kicked off with the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028747/new-report-says-cyberspying-group-linked-to-chinas-army.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mandiant report on APT1</a>, which offered undeniable proof that U.S. agencies and companies were being infiltrated by a group based out of China. But after everyone spent the first half of the year worried about foreign—possibly state-sponsored—attacks out of China, Iran, and Syria, Edward Snowden dropped a bomb that would change the conversation dramatically.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">"What Snowden released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already." —Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Snowden—a contractor for the National Security Agency—fled the United States (eventually finding temporary asylum in Russia) and shared with the world details about <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054393/new-snowden-revelation-nsa-collects-millions-of-email-and-chat-address-books.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the NSA's spying on just about everything and everyone </a>around the globe. The ripples from the Snowden revelations are still being felt, as U.S. citizens, the U.S. government, and the nation's allies struggle to find a balance between proactive diligence and overt violations of privacy and civil liberties.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"What he released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already," says Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage. "The hundred-pound gorilla in the room wasn't China or Iran, but our own U.S. agency called the NSA."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"Perhaps the only good news from <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2081180/snowden-speech-to-eu-parliament-could-torpedo-us-trade-talks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the Snowden leak</a> is that it has forced a lot of companies to take a serious look at which data is important to them and how it's being protected," Melancon says.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Looking ahead to 2014, the looming threats are essentially the same. The threat from mobile malware will continue to grow, and we will continue to strive to protect our personal data—from cybercriminals and from our own governments.</p> </span>

Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are...

Read more »