Pusat Media Informasi

Sunday, November 30, 2014

How to wipe your phone or tablet before you sell it

Here is how to wipe your personal data from a mobile device the right way before trading up to a new model.

Trading in or selling your old mobile device? Wipe it the right way to reduce the risk of personal data falling into the wrong hands.

Remember that no method apart from physically destroying the device and its storage is 100 percent foolproof -- data may still be recoverable with the right tools.

These tips are for the three main mobile operating systems, but if you have an older phone or an alternate OS, check the manual for full details on how to wipe your device.

Before you start:

Back up all your data, including contacts
Remember to remove the SIM card and any external storage such as a microSD card
Log out of services like email and social media, then clear the data from these apps if you can
Perform a separate encrypt and wipe of data on the microSD card as well if you don't plan to use the card in a new device
Keep the serial number of the phone or tablet on file for your records.

Android

The simplest way to wipe your Android device is to perform a factory reset. However, this often only clears data at the application level, and other information such as SMS and chat messages can be restored with some standard data recovery tools.

Instead, CNET's Dan Graziano has a full rundown on how to effectively wipe data on your Android phone or tablet which begins with encrypting your device first through the Settings menu.

You won't need any special tools, just a bit more patience than simply pressing the restore option within the settings.

Once the wipe is complete, remember to also revoke access to the phone from services such as Facebook and Google. To remove devices from your Google account, head tosecurity.google.com/settings/security/activity, click on the model you have wiped, and press Remove next to the Account Access option.

iOS

Apple devices that support iOS 5 or later include hardware encryption when you set a passcode. If you perform a wipe using the method below, the encryption key is also overwritten which makes it very difficult for anyone who wants to recover the data.

Step one: Before starting the reset process, make sure to turn off all services, starting with Find My iPhone. Do this by heading to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone. Enter your Apple ID password when prompted.

Step two: Sign out of iCloud completely. Head to Settings > iCloud and find Sign Out at the bottom of the page. For iOS 7 devices, choose Delete Account.

If you delete all your data manually without signing out of iCloud, it will also delete the content from iCloud as well -- which is something you definitely don't want.

Step three: Turn off and sign out of other services including iMessage and Apple ID.

For iMessage, go to Settings > Messages > toggle the iMessage option. For your Apple ID, go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > tap your Apple ID email address and then Sign Out.

For added peace of mind you may also want to sign out individually of any other linked services and apps, such as Facebook or Twitter.

Step four: Start the wipe process. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Confirm the selection.

Step five: If you have registered your device with Apple by its serial number, remove it from your support profile by logging in with your Apple ID at supportprofile.apple.com

Windows Phone

At the time of writing, Windows Phone only offers encryption for business customers. The easiest option to wipe a Windows Phone 8 device is to perform a factory reset and then load dummy data to overwrite traces of the original data.

Step one: Open up Settings from the main apps list. Find About and then tap Reset Your Phone.

Step two: Confirm the action and then wait for the phone to wipe.

Step three: Connect the phone to a PC and open My Computer. If you are connecting via Mac, download the Windows Phone app. Find the phone, which should show up as a removable device, and open it.

Step four: Load dummy data onto the phone by dragging and dropping from another folder. Don't use your personal photos or documents here, instead try with files that contain no identifiable metadata that could be traced back to you, such as video or music files. Try and fill the phone with as much dummy data as possible.

Step five: Reset the phone again using the same method in step one. Repeat the dummy data load a few more times to ensure all your original data is overwritten.

Step six: Perform a final reset.

How to add more camera modes on Galaxy S5 and Note 4

Learn how to get more camera modes on your device for free by following these easy steps.

Whether you enjoy taking photos all year long, or you're getting ready to take a bunch at festive seasonal gatherings, both the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5 are excellent options with their 16-megapixel cameras. As a bonus, these devices offer camera modes to get just the right shot.

Camera modes -- such as Animated photo, Sports or Panorama -- offer more control over the performance of your device's ability to take photos. While some camera modes come installed by default, Samsung offers extras through the Galaxy Apps store. Here's how to add more of them to your Note 4 or S5:

The Mode button is on the right.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 1: Open the Camera app and tap on the Mode button.

Camera modes on the Galaxy S5.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 2: Scroll through the list until you reach the end, where you will find a tile named Download. Tap this and you'll enter the Galaxy Apps store.

Camera modes available for download.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 3: You'll be presented with a list of available camera modes. These are all offered by Samsung and can be downloaded for free by tapping on each one and pressing "Install."

Now you can help your camera take the best shot for the current conditions, whether it's a beautiful landscape (Panorama and Surround shot modes) or a delicious spread on the table (Food mode).

Windows 10 takes a second swing at the future of Microsoft's OS

Windows 10 is everything Windows 8 should have been. Now, it's still early: the technical preview is just a week old, and barely scratches the surface of what Microsoft has promised is coming down the pipe. It's also buggy, and definitely shouldn't be installed on your primary PC.

But this fledgling operating system is at once panacea and prescience, a remedy for Windows 8's identity-crisis that also rethinks and reworks the overly-bold approach to Microsoft's dream of unifying the desktop and mobile experience.

The revamped, customizable Start menu.Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Boot up a PC running the Windows 10 Technical Preview, and you'll be dropped off at the oh so familiar desktop. A taskbar with familiar looking icons sits on the bottom, and the recycle bin sits in the upper left corner. A build number sitting on the right side of your desktop is the only indication that this isn't Windows 8 all over again.

And then you press the Start button, and are greeted by the return of the Start menu. It's a proper Start menu too, with your apps all stacked in that endless column of nested folders we've all been scrolling since Windows 95. And sitting alongside that column are Windows 8's lovely Live Tiles, with news-bites and social updates spinning ad infinitum.

Windows 8 was a bold reimagining of the operating system, but the Start screen has proven contentious. The colorful Live Tiles offer useful notifications and information, but they were designed with touchscreen devices in mind: much of the work we do in Windows involves a keyboard, a mouse, and large displays chock full of windows and apps. Windows 8's Modern apps demand a full screen's attention, oblivious of our need to multitask. And many app developers have stuck to apps that rip us back to the desktop, creating a confusing experience for folks who want to make the most of Windows.

The Windows 10 Start Menu sidesteps those problems entirely, giving us the best of both worlds.

Old is new again

Virtual desktops keep work and play separate.Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

With Windows 10, the familiar and the new are mashed together in a form that's only a little different, but suddenly more useful than ever before. The new Start menu behaves much like older versions of Windows, with frequently used apps and any folders you've pinned lined up in a neat little column. To the right of that column are the Live Tiles, which function much like they do in Windows 8 in a fraction of the space. You pin apps as new tiles on a whim, and also resize and rearrange tiles to your liking. You can also resize the entire start menu, making it tall and narrow, or short and wide. And if you'd rather not deal with the Live Tiles at all, just right click them and remove them.

Press those Live Tile shortcuts, and the Modern apps introduced in Windows 8 open as classic windowed apps. This is a welcome change, allowing us to sample the new aesthetic Microsoft is pushing for the next generation of Windows without sacrificing our entire display. You can now drag these Modern apps around, snap them to half of your display, or minimize and maximize them at will.

Modern apps no longer take up the whole screen.Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

But Windows 10's real game-changing potential is still purely theoretical: this'll be one operating system to rule them all, serving up a device-specific interface that'll scale from desktops down to smartphones, and everywhere in between, with universal apps that will run everywhere too. Microsoft has also offered a look at new trackpad gestures that are slated to make their way into the Technical Preview.

Some of these gestures will likely be familiar to folks who've used the trackpad on a Macbook: swipe down with three fingers for example, and you'll minimize all of the open windows on your desktop. Swipe up with three fingers to reopen them. You'll also be able to jump between open applications by swiping three fingers to the left or right, if you'd rather not use the Alt + Tab shortcuts, or are on a device without a keyboard.

These features haven't yet made their way to the technical preview, but you'll eventually be able to pop a 2-in-1 convertible device like the Surface Pro 3 onto its keyboard base, and watch the full-screen Start screen melt away, offering instead the new Start menu and the familiar desktop.

That could be a cure for the confusing mess that is the current Windows 8 PC ecosystem, chock full oflaptops that bend over backward or split from keyboards, or simply graft touchscreens onto familiar designs. We should finally see an end to the jarring, generally unsatisfying experience that urges us to dance between the desktop and that weird, full-screen purgatory where Modern apps live.

And if you want to flirt with the Windows 8 experience you can do that too: just right click the taskbar and choose the option that disables or enables the Start menu. If Windows 8 had shipped with that option to begin with, we would probably have avoided this issue entirely.

Future-proofing

Windows 10 isn't going to fix everything, but a seemingly simple tweak to one of Windows 8's most divisive elements has made a world of difference to the OS. And that's crucial to Windows' future, as Microsoft is still looking at the big picture: PCs are old news.

Desktops and laptops still handle most of our work and play, but tablets and smartphones have long since stolen the limelight: future operating systems will need to work to bridge that gap. We've seen steps in this direction from Apple, with OS X Yosemite's ability to hand off files and things like emails and calls from your phone or tablet. And some Android apps are making their way to Google's Chrome OS, and interesting sign of where Google might be headed.

Microsoft's vision of tomorrow's ideal operating system is grander still. The goal is to offer a unified experience across devices of all shapes and sizes, and one that will morph to make sense: icons to tap and home screens when you're on a phone or tablet, but windowed apps and nested folders when you're armed with a keyboard and mouse.

Windows 8 dreamed of dragging us into that future, but we kicked and screamed at the inefficiency of its one-size-fits-all approach. With Windows 10, Microsoft seems to be getting it right.

Best GoPro accessories

1 / 27

Mounts, cases and more

There's a good reason why GoPro's tagline is "the world's most versatile camera."

With their super-compact design and point-and-shoot operation, it's a device that anyone can set up and use. And with its waterproof housing, you can use it in the snow or rain, in or out of the water, or really anywhere you want to go.

But to get the most from a GoPro -- or any action cam for that matter -- you need to go beyond the adhesive helmet mount that came with the camera.

What follows are accessories to help you do just that. And this list isn't just for GoPro users.

Though many of these use the pronged mount used on GoPro's housings, the first product on the list shows you how to get around that. Also, the accessories here that don't use GoPro's mount use a standard 1/4-20 tripod mount.

How to install SteamOS on your computer

A beta version of Valve's gaming operating system is now available for download. Here's how you can transform your current computer into a Steam Machine.

Valve, the gaming company behind the hit series Half-Life, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Portal, is looking to change the industry once again. With more than 75 million users and a market shareestimated at around 75 percent, the company's Steam digital distribution platform has already changed the way computer owners purchase and play games.

Unsatisfied with the way the game console market has shifted in recent years, Valve in 2013 announced a new strategy for invading the living room. The company created SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system designed for playing video games.

SteamOS computers, also known as Steam Machines, from manufacturers like Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Origin PC, among many others, are slated to launch later this year, but you don't have to wait to get your hands on Valve's new operating system.

Here's how you can transform your current computer into a Steam Machine:

Hardware requirements

Most mid- to high-end computers should be able to run SteamOS with no problem. You will need either a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, a minimum of 4GB of RAM, and a hard drive with at least 500GB of storage. While Valve recommends an Nvidia graphics card (they are optimized to work better with SteamOS), the latest beta added support for both AMD and Intel graphics. Additionally, your system must include Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot support, which most modern (past three or four years) motherboards do.

In addition to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, you will also need a flash drive with at least 4GB of space, an Ethernet connection, and a USB game controller -- I'm using a wired Xbox 360 controller.

Installation

SteamOS is still in beta and parts of the operating system are not 100 percent functional. Please be aware that the operating system has some bugs that still must be worked out. Installing SteamOS will also erase your entire hard drive, so it is imperative that you back up any important data to external drive.

There are two methods for installing SteamOS; this guide will cover them both.

Default installation
The default installation process is the easiest way to install SteamOS. The process is pretty straightforward and shouldn't be too much of a hassle for the average user. Note that this method requires at least a 1TB hard drive. To install SteamOS using the default method, follow these steps:

1. Download the official SteamOS file from Valve's Web site.

2. Connect your USB drive to your computer and format it. To do this on Windows, right-click the drive, select format, and choose FAT32. For OS X, enter the Utilities folder in your Applications list, click on Disk Utility, select Erase, and choose MS-DOS (FAT). Rename the USB drive to "SYSRESTORE."

The files must be on the root of your USB flash drive.Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

3. After the download has finished, unzip and extract all of the files to the USB drive. Make sure they are on the root of the drive, meaning that they aren't stored in a folder.

4. Power down your computer and boot to the USB drive. This can be done from the BIOS boot menu, which can be accessed by holding either the DEL, F8, F10, F11, or F12 keys as the computer is powering on (depending on your system). The selection you are looking for will read something along the lines of "UEFI: USB Brand Name PMAP."

5. Next, select the "Restore Entire Disk" option from the boot menu.

6. Once installation is complete, press Enter to shut down the machine.

7. Remove the USB drive and power on your computer. You should now be running SteamOS.

Custom installation
While the default method is the easiest way to install SteamOS, some people have reported running into problems. If that's the case, you should try the custom installation method. The process is slightly more complicated than the first, but it also gives advanced users the power to tweak certain settings. Follow these steps to install SteamOS using the custom installation method:

1. Download the official custom-install SteamOS file from Valve's Web site.

2. Connect your USB drive to your computer and format it. On Windows, right-click the drive, select format, and choose FAT32. On OS X, enter the Utilities folder in your Applications list, click on Disk Utility, select Erase, and choose MS-DOS (FAT).

3. Unzip the file and extract its content to the root of your flash drive.

4. Power down your computer and boot to the USB drive. This can be done from the BIOS boot menu, which can be accessed by tapping either the DEL, F8, F10, F11, or F12 keys once the computer is powering on (depending on your system). The selection you are looking for will read, "UEFI: USB Brand Name PMAP."

5. Select the "Automated install" option from the menu, but remember this will erase your entire hard drive. The installer will automatically partition the drive and install the new operating system.

6. After installation is complete, remove the USB drive, hit the "Continue" button, and your system will reboot. If you are having trouble booting into SteamOS, enter the BIOS settings and make sure the computer is booting from the hard drive that has the operating system installed.

7. Once the system reboots, select the option that reads, "SteamOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.10-3-amd64."

8. Change the pull-down to the "GNOME" option and enter "steam" for the username and password.

9. Click on the Activities button in the top left corner of the screen, select the Applications tab, open the Terminal application, type in "steam," hit Enter, and accept the the terms of use agreement.

10. Click on the Steam button in the top right corner of the screen and log out of your session. Log back into the GNOME desktop, but this time with the username and password "desktop."

11. Type "~/post_logon.sh" in the Terminal window, hit Enter, and enter the password when prompted to do so -- don't panic if the numbers don't appear when you type them out. Just type "desktop" and hit Enter.

12. The system will now reboot. When prompted to do so, hit the "y" key, followed by Enter.

13. Now when you reboot your system you should be running SteamOS. Simply log in to an existing account or create a new one.

Limitations

Why would you want to download SteamOS? Good question. In fact, there is no real reason for you to run the operating system at all. It's severely limited and most Steam games don't even support it, yet.

Out of the 102 games I own on the platform, only 41 currently support SteamOS, a majority of which are either games from Valve -- Portal, Left 4 Dead, Half-Life -- or from smaller, independent developers. To make matters worse, only 16 games out of the 41 I own that support SteamOS have full or partial support for game controllers.

Conclusion

I must admit, it's cool to play some of these games with a controller, although this can also be done via Steam's Big Picture mode. One of the games I tested was Left 4 Dead 2, which included full support for game controllers, and it was relatively smooth. At first, performance on SteamOS appeared to be on par with that of Windows. As I continued to play, however, the game completely froze and I was forced to quit. I also experienced freezing and low frame rates playing Brutal Legend and Dungeon Defenders, two games that aren't necessarily high-end.

Despite the beta tag, I found the actual operating system to be fairly stable. While gameplay performance, which appears to vary by game, has room for improvement, the interface of SteamOS was quite fluid. Due to the limited selection of games, however, there isn't much you can do with it yet. I suspect the only reason people would be interested in running SteamOS is to get a sneak peek at the software on the upcoming Steam Machine; other than that you're better off gaming on Windows or even OS X.

Pusat Media Informasi

Sunday, November 30, 2014

How to wipe your phone or tablet before you sell it

How to wipe your phone or tablet before you sell it

Here is how to wipe your personal data from a mobile device the right way before trading up to a new model.

Before you start:

Android

iOS

Windows Phone

How to add more camera modes on Galaxy S5 and Note 4

How to add more camera modes on Galaxy S5 and Note 4

Learn how to get more camera modes on your device for free by following these easy steps.

Windows 10 takes a second swing at the future of Microsoft's OS

Windows 10 takes a second swing at the future of Microsoft's OS

Old is new again

A step forward

Future-proofing

Best GoPro accessories

Mounts, cases and more

Friday, November 28, 2014

How to install SteamOS on your computer

How to install SteamOS on your computer

A beta version of Valve's gaming operating system is now available for download. Here's how you can transform your current computer into a Steam Machine.

Hardware requirements

Installation

Limitations

Conclusion

Blog Archive

Statistik

Popular Posts

Labels