Cloud Users: Questions (Sky Drive, G Docs, etc) - Networking

Mainly, I don't want to move my life into the cloud until I can do it all (MP3s, photos, docs... Everything).
I love Google. Their stuff works well. However they cap Picasa at 1GB. All my documents are (mostly) in Office format which can convert into Google Docs format, so it's no big deal there. But the Picasa limit is what gets me on my photos.
You can buy more space (like 200GB for $50/yr... cheap) but....... Google shows no love for Google Apps users.
Now, Microsoft on the other hand, gives you their 25GB Sky Drive which would work well. But, their interface is crap. Also- I don't think I can buy more space if I need it.
Also, my Android phone syncs too well with the Google services (contacts, mail, calendar)- I'm not sure if it'd be viable to switch or not. The mail is NBD- I could have Gmail pull my mail, but the contacts and calendar syncing is big for me.
Any suggestions? Or what do you guys do in this situation? Maybe I'll have to ditch the custom domain and become a regular user or something. IDK.

Another downside to Google's method might be the fact I can't map it as a drive. (Useful for syncing back and forth easily- like if I need to load up my music or photos on a phone).
Edit- I might have to resign myself to using Sky Drive because I can't find a way that you can map Google Dogs or Picasa to a local drive (which is necessary for bulk operations).

Use something like Dropbox for photos and files, it starts at 2 GB (free!) and has clients for all major desktop and mobile operating systems

Related

Do you keep your contact list on your phone or on google?

My phone's bugging out again for some reason today and I'm pretty sure I have to wipe it when I get home, currently I backup all my contacts to my outlook account on my computer at home.
My question, Is it better to use Google as the main storage for my contacts instead of resyncing each time I wipe my phone?
I use google. Main reason is because I use all of the services...like calendar, voice, gmail, and so on. Just easier for me.
Google. One of the best features for me was the integration of Google's address book, my Gmail had more complete contact information than even my last cell phone.
Google because after all it is a Google phone....
Google for sure. SO easy to flash a new ROM. All the app data is back, perfect and pristine; no worries about Outlook formatting things incorrectly, or things getting 'out of sync' when you update things online and/or on your phone.
I wipe WAY too much to leave it on the phone.. so Google it is for me..
Yup, google here. Makes things soo easy.
i use google because its very easy to restore my contacts after a wipe
Google for me as well. Remember you can chose to Sync only the groups you want sync'd. It requires some organizing in google to get your contacts into groups but is well worth the effort. This way you can leave out contacts you don't want on your phone, but can access via google should you really need to.
tyrnight said:
I wipe WAY too much to leave it on the phone.. so Google it is for me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on this i learned the hard wat to sync to google (first time i flased i messed up and cleared all my contacts) been google ever since
I used to keep them on my Exchange server at work then switched to using Google.
Googleeee.
Google it is.
I really can't believe that any one wouldn't keep them in Googles cloud.
I also used Google for everything. With Gmail push, battery life is even better. Before I used to use stock mail and my battery loose drain faster than using gmail now. It was all trial and error to see what fix your need.
So I an not sure if I am doing something wrong but I can not get gmail to sync my contacts. It does not pull numbers from my phone. It will only add my email addresses from my gmail. Does anyone have any ideas why? Thanks
Google all the way.
Yes. To both. Also, on all of my home computers and MobileMe. Everything has the full contact list always in sync.
Definitely Google. I also export from Google to a csv file every now and then just to be on the safe side, which then gets stored in my Dropbox account.
My wife was quite impressed the night we got our Heros and I had both of our (lengthy) contact lists loaded onto our phones before we even got out of the parking lot.
I save them on google. Coz I am afriaid of losing my phone.

DROPBOX: Danger Box?

Dear fellow members,
Just to inform you about Dropbox privacy policy because I know that a lot of you rely on Dropbox (info received via Twitter today): Dropbox issue
Feel free to comment but most likely, to delete your Dropbox account if you feel like you've been fouled.
f.
Yes, I read about this and was rather angered by it..... But.... the service is so slick and useful, cancelling my usage would be like cutting off my nose to spite my face. I'll just continue to use it for non-sensitive data only.
The fact is, we need to be careful about the data we store in any cloud-based service - they all seem vulnerable. Even Android itself can't be trusted: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13422308
Plus you did seriously think the files on servers were really inaccessible for anyone having complete access to databases and filesystem ? If that wouldn't be possible, then the system wouldn't be able to work at all.
Im still unconvinced about Cloud Storage. Yes it can be convenient, but Id rather have full control over my data and where it actually is.
Ill be saving my sensitve data on local off line storage i.e. external HDD's.
Yeah have never stored anything sensitive to Dropbox but the consept is nice and our data ain't that secure anyways nowadays
it has it's ups and down. But using dropbox to store you entire business on, dont know, maybe its not smart. But it can be very useful if you have some files you share with people outside your company, which you dont want to grant access to your server.
I was never in the illusion dropbox couldnt be accessed by hacking or anything, but this easily by employees of dropbox itself :S.
In dropbox, I store things like lyrics for my band, guitar scores or similar. Things where I don't care who looks at them. Nothing else.
For me, every cloud storage is basically open as a postcard.
Just my 2 cents...
is there any similar software as titanium media sync which can store my data (photos etc) on alterntive services? E.g. other cloud services or own ftp ?
I've been using SugarSync. Anyone have information on them and how they operate? Seems that cloud storage is a mixed bag at best. Users should always be cautious about what they put up there. However, if law enforcement has a valid warrant, I understand how a company would be required to comply.

[Q] What do you use your rooted or unrooted NST for?

I'm debating on buying a NST and rooting it and I was wondering what you guys use yours for? What apps do you use?
Truthfully? It's a techie toy that I like playing with. I'm enthralled with the idea of doing so much with what is, essentially, a disposable device. Not that I'm throwing mine away, but I'm willing to risk things with it that I wouldn't consider doing to a more expensive gizmo.
The big draw of the NST for me is the outdoor-readable screen. I'm relegating it to the role of my "beach computer", something I can grab and take along easily, yet get a few important things done when needed. Those are:
1. Reading. I use the stock B&N app, as I find it just fine for basic .epub files. I use the B&N Library for organizing files.
2. Email. I'm using maildroid for corporate (Exchange), gmail and IMAP access (total, 4 accounts). I don't use the Gmail app at all. On demand to save battery.
3. Calendar viewing. Calendar pad lets me see any calendars I sync to Google Calendar. Unfortunately, I can't find a 2.1 Eclair-compatible program that will integrate my Exchange calendar and contacts. Enhanced Email is ideal, but only runs on 2.2+.
4. Tasks. I use Astrid tasks. On demand to save battery.
5. Subscriptions. In addition to a few B&N magazine subscriptions, I have Calibre set up on my home system to download content for a number of newspapers and magazines each night. Those are dumped into a Dropbox folder that I sync to my NST on demand using Dropsync. They all show up in the B&N Library under "Newsstand", complete with pretty covers.
6. Notes. I use Evernote to sync between my other devices. Given the small keyboard on the NST, I'll probably mostly use this to view notes, though I can punch them in on the NST in a pinch.
7. Newsfeed aggregation. I like My6Sense.
8. Casual (infrequent) web browing. Opera Mobile works, but it's no joy to use given the device limitations. Still, in a pinch, it works pretty well.
9. Voicemail. I read my voicemails transcribed by Google Voice. I suppose I could send SMS text messages, but I haven't done much with this. On demand to save battery.
10. Weather. On demand to save battery. I use WeatherBug.
11. Password safe. I use Keepass, synchronized with other devices via Dropsync.
I've also found it handily replaces that stack of magazines on the coffee table, so I keep it laying around the family room when not otherwise in use.
bobstro said:
8. Casual (infrequent) web browing. Opera Mobile works, but it's no joy to use given the device limitations. Still, in a pinch, it works pretty well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean "device limitations? With the norefresh hack isn't it relatively quick?
taC nayN said:
What do you mean "device limitations? With the norefresh hack isn't it relatively quick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly the small screen size and poor contrast. I haven't found lack of multitouch to be a problem with Opera Mobile (yet). The flicker is annoying, but tolerable. It certainly works on a technical level, and it's fine in a pinch, but I wouldn't call it my "preferred browsing experience". Non-techies will be unimpressed. However, if it allows you to check a reservation when something else isn't around, it's well worth it.
For Opera, you can use a custom CSS file. I recall a thread that had a really nice CSS file that covered most everything on websites.
Questions don't belong in development. Thread has been moved.
reading : Nook original reader, unless I need to buy a book in which case I have to use the kindle app (I don't have a US credit card so I can't buy from B&N)
The only other thing I'm doing with it for now is running Anki, a flashcard program that helps me to learn Chinese (but can be used to learn anything), it's free and synced automaticaly with an online server so it downloads the latest flashcards you wrote on say your computer. (and it also sync. your progress in memorizing stuff)
in the future I'd love to turn my nook into an outdoors computer for text input, and to take notes in class by managing the usbhost function and using an external keyboard, not quite there yet but that's what I'm really excited about
bobstro said:
2. Email. I'm using maildroid for corporate (Exchange), gmail and IMAP access (total, 4 accounts). I don't use the Gmail app at all. On demand to save battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you been able to disable sync on the GMail app? I cannot seem to access Account Settings on the GMail app. It does a soft reset when I access Menu->Account Settings for the account.
I was wondering if it is possible to sync on demand for the GMail app.
Am on TouchNooter.
--
cbay said:
Have you been able to disable sync on the GMail app? I cannot seem to access Account Settings on the GMail app. It does a soft reset when I access Menu->Account Settings for the account.
I was wondering if it is possible to sync on demand for the GMail app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am able to get into Account Settings on mine, but all I did was turn off notifications. Not sure if that disables the polling. I did finally freeze it using Titanium Backup to make sure. I don't use the gmail app at all.
Freeze is a good idea if you have Titanium Backup Pro, I finally just renamed Gmail.apk.
--
for me, main thing I need is to read RTL language, as I have lots of Arabic books, and NST is not supporting this natively. I had to root it to get moon+ reader to read Arabic.

Android/WP8 apps availability list

Hi guys!
I am a happy android user on a galaxy nexus. I was waiting for the nexus 4 but I live in Italy and it is going to sell for about 600€ versus the 350$ so I'm pretty disappointed. I started looking around and I'm curious about the new WP8 and, especially, the Lumia 920. I haven't had a Nokia in ages!
The deal breaker is the app eco system.
I am a big Google services user and have understood that there is total sync capability while I m still undecided on the app part.
Is there a site with a list where I can find the most common apps or app categories on android and see if there is a counter part in wp 8?
My last resort would be going on the windows market place and just look around.
Thank you!
PS I searched in the forum but wasn't able to find anything very specific
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
The best thing to do is search the marketplace yourself. You will find apps for almost everything you do on android, except those rendered useless by the system (in WP, system apps are actually doing a pretty damn good job and do not require replacement from the marketplace), but they are likely under different names, so a list would be very difficult and pointless to compile.
I switched from Android to Windows Phone 8 and i have everything i used on Android. Sure i miss some apps, like PowerAMP; Google+, a good Facebook App and a AD Blocker app. But i can life without them. There are some apps as well which sucks like WhatsApp, but i guess WhatsApp is goin to fix that soon.
What are your favorite apps on Android ?
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
I have to ask what is the point of using Evernote as in Windows environment you have OneNote? You sync your OneNotes automatically to your Outlook (or Live/Hotmail) account and can sync to desktop.
Well, first of all I don't have a Microsoft environment (I have a Mac, galaxy nexus, iPad and nexus 7!) and second I have never had a windows phone so I really don't know how all the syncing works!
Since I work on different platforms I use drop box for documents and evernote for notes and everything is always perfectly synced!
mrc87 said:
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what Google reader does, but it is not needed.
Adobe reader is present
Kindle is present
Evernote is present, although you have one note.
Drop box is present (although you have skydrive)
whatsapp is not needed
Google maps is not needed (you have offline maps: nokia maps)
As for other medical apps, i am not entirely sure what kind of medical apps you would expect to have, but there's plenty of WP ones.
Even if you use a MAC< getting a Microsoft account and using hotmail/outlook is easy(you only need a browser).
mcosmin222 said:
Not sure what Google reader does, but it is not needed.
Adobe reader is present
Kindle is present
Evernote is present, although you have one note.
Drop box is present (although you have skydrive)
whatsapp is not needed
Google maps is not needed (you have offline maps: nokia maps)
As for other medical apps, i am not entirely sure what kind of medical apps you would expect to have, but there's plenty of WP ones.
Even if you use a MAC< getting a Microsoft account and using hotmail/outlook is easy(you only need a browser).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do say that whatsapp is not needed?
Google reader is a RSS feed app
I already have a hotmail account, I just prefer to use less accounts possible (I know, I can filter and forward messages!)
I prefer Dropbox because all my friends and colleagues have it so it is just easier to handle files.
Off topic: just went to see a Lumia 920 and it looks really nice!
I think "WhatsApp not needed" is a typo. WP has WhatsApp and they are about to update it too.
---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------
WP is like Android. MS wants you to have Outlook/Hotmail/Live email address to access marketplace etc. So you need to have the account. You dont need to sync the emails to your phone if you dont want. Also you use that account to connect with Twitter and Facebook chat. With that account you get SkyDrive space of I think 7gb for free (I got it upgraded to 25gb for free, but that offer is not valid anymore)
mrc87 said:
Why do say that whatsapp is not needed?
Google reader is a RSS feed app
I already have a hotmail account, I just prefer to use less accounts possible (I know, I can filter and forward messages!)
I prefer Dropbox because all my friends and colleagues have it so it is just easier to handle files.
Off topic: just went to see a Lumia 920 and it looks really nice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dropbox is present and accounted for.
As for RSS feed apps, you have plenty. Google is not really active in Windows Phone area, as they will do everything to undermine the platform.
As for using accounts, Windows Phone has a very clean way of managing accounts. Just add them one by one, and you get different apps for each one of them, they are all nicely filtered and stuff like that. You can easily make a hotmail account for the marketplace and keep using your old accounts for the rest of the things you do.
ATM i have 3 accounts attached to my lumia 800: My "marketplace" account which happens to be my main email address, my developer account, under which i publish apps, and some yahoo email for family members. They are all working nicely.
@OP that's kind of a hard question. The apps depends on each user. Some people don't use any while others depend on very specific apps.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Is there any good app that plays AVI or MKV files? for Android, there's MX player is there an equivalent app for W8?
I use Nextgen Reader for the Google reader app. Works better than the Google app on Android imo.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
spex714 said:
Is there any good app that plays AVI or MKV files? for Android, there's MX player is there an equivalent app for W8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, there are no apps that let you play alternative formats/containers.
Regarding the OP: I can't find any medical apps on the marketplace, I'm sorry
You need a Microsoft account but you do not need another hotmail account. My Microsoft account is my corporate email address.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
shield001 said:
You need a Microsoft account but you do not need another hotmail account. My Microsoft account is my corporate email address.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What, are you saying I could use my o365 account? I dont think so but please say Im wring here. My o365 account is configured so that my address is [email protected].
Loco5150 said:
What, are you saying I could use my o365 account? I dont think so but please say Im wring here. My o365 account is configured so that my address is [email protected].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can definitely use your O365 account for e-mail, etc.; if you also have a Microsoft Account (a.k.a. .Net Passport/Windows Live/other names it's gone by in the past) set up using that same e-mail address, you can use it as your main account that's tied to the Store, etc. to buy apps and whatnot. I was doing exactly that for a while ([email protected] hosted on Office365 and also tied in as a Microsoft Account). I'm no longer using Office365 to host that e-mail (just moved it to outlook.com for free since it's a personal account), but it's still my Microsoft Account. It all ties together nicely with whatever combination of accounts you use.
I was just looking at the app list for wp8 and its getting better.
mrc87 said:
I consider essential apps like
Google reader,
adobe reader,
kindle,
evernote,
medscape,
epocrates,
Dropbox,
whatsapp (I barely eve use SMS'),
And of course Google maps
I'm a doctor so I use a lot of medical apps but seeing the shortage on android vs iOS I bell believe wp8 only to be worse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a 4th year pharmacy student I can answer your medical application questions. There is no epocrates, medscape, lexicomp, clinical pharmacology, etc...
But there is a PubMed Mobile not made by them as far as I can tell. Just shows you search results and then when you click one it takes you to the website. Found an application called Drugs&Medications it's a dollar and tells you facts about drugs (company, dosage form, common indications, and links you to the FDA website didn't buy it so can't fact check it).
That being said I found some applications from http://www.unboundmedicine.com/products/windows_phone/ on the store.
So yes you're right it is worse. I've already accepted that I'll have to switch to an iPhone for my rotations lol.
bkaul said:
You can definitely use your O365 account for e-mail, etc.; if you also have a Microsoft Account (a.k.a. .Net Passport/Windows Live/other names it's gone by in the past) set up using that same e-mail address, you can use it as your main account that's tied to the Store, etc. to buy apps and whatnot. I was doing exactly that for a while ([email protected] hosted on Office365 and also tied in as a Microsoft Account). I'm no longer using Office365 to host that e-mail (just moved it to outlook.com for free since it's a personal account), but it's still my Microsoft Account. It all ties together nicely with whatever combination of accounts you use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway if you could tie marketplace to o365 account, you still need Live (Hotmail or Outlook etc) to connect with Facebook chat and twitter. It is still best to have the Live account as main account and other accounts like o365 secondary.

[Q] setup Nexus 7 as photo frame?

(wasn't sure if this should be in the apps section, or Q&A...sorry if this is the wrong forum)
I recently purchased a Nexus 7 with the hopes of turning it into a photoframe for my grandmother and aunts. They don't have facebook, or G+...etc. So my hope is to create a generic account for them on several services (G+, dropbox, skydrive, flickr, etc.) and then setup the Nexus 7 to auto-download photos from these services and add them to the local gallery (maybe once per hour or day). Then use the gallery, daydream or another app to create a slideshow.
I'm hoping to allow other family members (who are located around the country) to upload photos to these services.
Much of this is flexible, but the end goal would be to allow lots of family members to be able to share photos with my grandmother (and at 102, she's not really in a position to get a social network account and really know how to use it). So ideally, I'd like this to be as "automated" as possible for them.
Are there any apps that may help? If not...other suggestions (on how to get close to my desired outcome) are welcome!
If it's helpful:
This is a Nexus 7 16GB wifi only
They DO have wifi and an "always on" connection
Thanks!
Set up a Google account expressly designed for this, and give everyone who wants to post photos the account login. Then post their pics to an album on G+. Use this account solely for this purpose. Anyone who adds it to their device will have access to the photos via gallery so long as photo sync is turned on for that account.
Thanks Solutions Etcetera! (follow up question at the bottom)
I ended up creating an account dedicated for the device, and while I liked your idea about giving out the login info ...I went another way with it. (mostly to simplify it all for family
I logged into the device account via a browser and then to picasaweb.google.com (if it takes you to Google+ photos, you should get a box that asks if you want to go to the "old albums" or something...do that! I found a setting in there that allows uploads via email.
(you may know the rest of this, but I'm putting it here in case anyone else comes looking.
So I enabled it (via checkbox) which provides an email address of a <long random bunch of numbers>@picasaweb.com.
You can also add a "passphrase" which turns the email address into <long random bunch of numbers>.<passphrase>@picasaweb.com.
Now, any family member can simply send an email to that address with an attached photo (or multiple photos) and they get added to a folder called "Dropbox" (that's google's name...not mine, and not related to the "Dropbox" service).
Then, as long as I have photo sync'ing turned on, on the N7....it seems to work.
My Question:
Anyone know how long the sync interval is?
I can send the account an email...it shows up online, and shows up in the "Gallery" almost instantly, but Daydream seems to ignore changes. I found by restarting the device it sees the new images, but I was hoping for something a bit more "automatic." Stopping just daydream and letting it start again on it's own didn't seem to update with new photos either.
Does anyone have any ideas how to nudge it along? so it more actively finds new photos once they're in the web album?
Thanks!
Without restarting the device, I think you're at the mercy of the media server. Don't really know why it varies so much in updating the media library index, but it is probably designed to minimize impact on battery.
Thanks for all the quick replies, ideas and solutions....er....Solutions.
I had the same issue with the sync interval on daydream. It is not clear to me if you have the photos stored locally. My problem was that there was a .nomedia file in the local photo folders I wanted displayed as part of daydream.
I found this thread while trying to do the same thing. I solved it a little differently. I used dropbox (the actual service, not the folder) to store photos and used dropsync (free) to synchronize the files to local folders. I used daydream to display the synced folders. This also puts all photos locally so my mom can take the tablet with her and have a photo album to share with friends.

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