Greg's Corner

Tagged: smart phones Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Geebo 10:59 am on February 9, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: back ups, locked out, smart phones   

  What to do when locked out of your phone 

  

  Do you have a PIN code or pattern passcode on your smart phone? That’s great. That means you practice good phone security. But what happens if your forget your pin or passcode? Can you get back into your phone? The short answer is no, the long answer is noooooooooooooooooo.

  That doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope. According to Popular Mechanics there are a few things you can do to retrieve some of your data. For example, if you use an SD card on your phone, some of your info may be saved on the card, or if you back up to the cloud regularly you’ll still be ok. However, the bottom line is that more than likely you’ll have to wipe your phone and start over.

  One thing you can’t do is call your carrier to unlock your phone. Due to privacy concerns the only person who has your pin or passcode is you. Your phone carrier does not have a magic button at their offices that they can push to magically unlock your phone, not even if you talk to a manager.

  The best practice to avoid data loss after being locked out of your phone is to make regular backups of your data because once you’re locked out you’ll have to restore your phone to factory settings.

   

  Leave a ReplyCancel reply
• 

  Geebo 10:58 am on December 21, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Android ( 8 ), ios ( 3 ), Safety ( 45 ), smart phones, tablets ( 3 )   

  Keeping your kids safe on their new devices 

  

  With Christmas fast approaching many children will be receiving new devices this year, whether they’re tablets or smart phones. With these new toys come new responsibilities, not only for the children but for parents as well. In the age we live in you can’t just hand your children one of these devices and send them on their merry way and expect no problems. Unfortunately, in our society not only are there the predators that we’re all concerned about but there are financial predators as well who want to take advantage of your kids disguised as apps and data caps.

  Many games for children on these devices have what they call ‘in app purchases’ which means that the players of the game can buy in-game items with real world money. Not only that, but many of these games use data from your cellular providers data plan and can either run up quite the data bill or burn through your allotted data rather quickly.

  To help you and your children avoid these pitfalls we’ve found two good resources on how to protect your children and your wallet while using these new devices. iOS devices, which are the ones made by Apple, are relatively simple to enable safety and financial restrictions. Android devices on the other hand, the ones made by companies like Samsung and various other manufacturers, are a little more difficult to restrict, but can be done.

  Just look at setting up your child’s new device as the modern equivalent of having to assemble the toys that our parents did on Christmas Eve for years, except now not only are you keeping your children engaged but you’re keeping them safe as well.

   
• 

  Geebo 12:01 pm on December 19, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: smart phones, unlocked phones   

  Should you buy an unlocked phone? 

  

  Up until a few years ago it was actually illegal to unlock a cell phone in the US. Back then unlocking a phone meant to make it so that the phone could be used on multiple carriers. Now you can buy an unlocked phone straight from the carrier, but should you? Well, that depends on your lifestyle.

  One of the pros of an unlocked phone is that you can switch carriers almost at will depending on what kind of deals the carriers are offering, and since you own your own phone you don’t have to worry about contracts. They’re also great of you travel overseas because you can buy local coverage in almost whatever country you may be visiting. A big con of owning an unlocked phone is that they can be incredibly expensive. A top of the line phone, like an iPhone, or Samsung Galaxy, can run you close to $1,000 or more depending on what features you want. Unfortunately, not a lot of people have a cool grand just lying around to buy a high-end phone.

  That’s not to say that there aren’t more affordable alternatives. A number of carriers have plans where there is no contract and the plans are all prepaid. The phones are more or less unlocked and are much less expensive than the top of the line phones and a lot of the phones work just as well. You may also be able to find a refurbished top of the line phone that’s being sold at a discount by one of these carriers.

  So if you can afford an unlocked phone, definitely get one, but most people can get buy with just their carrier’s subsidized phone.

   
• 

  Geebo 12:00 pm on November 10, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Samsung ( 4 ), smart phones   

  Can Samsung bounce back with a ‘flip’ phone? 

  

  If you’ve flown anywhere in the US lately, you’ve probably heard the warning that it’s illegal to fly with a Samsung Galaxy Note 7. In case you haven’t heard, the Galaxy Note 7 has had some minor issues with occasionally bursting into flames at the most inopportune times. Even though that there have been recalls of the phone and apologies from Samsung it’s been a PR nightmare for the South Korean phone company.

  A lot of people in the financial and tech worlds have been saying that it’s going to take a long time for Samsung to get back to where it was as a leader in the smart phone industry. It may not take them too long with the development of a new flip phone. They don’t mean your old early 2000s flip phone that was so satisfying to close to hang up on someone, but a new foldable smart phone.

  According to reports Samsung will be releasing a phone next year that’s not only foldable but has a hinge on the back that possibly can be slid up and down the length of the phone making it foldable just about anywhere on the phone. What remains to be seen is whether or not a foldable phone is something the public will want or just another cell phone gimmick that will fail to catch on?