IOS switcher

[cmceleste]

Another iOS Switcher

Hello, Great to see there is a supportive community for WP out there.

I also have the iPhone 4 and am skeptical about getting the new iPhone 5. The Nokia 920 seems to be a segue into a new era of smart phones. These forums and videos have great information about how the WP8 operating system will work, thank you.

A question I am interested in is how do you transfer music and photos from your computer to your phone? I use Apple computers and have all my music and photos in iTunes and iPhoto. Is there a program that can work on a Mac to sync all my files and use as a backup?

Thank you for any information.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

For now, we use the Zune software to transfer pictures, videos, and music. It's superior to iTunes, in my opinion, but the important thing for you is that any music in AAC format will need to be converted to MP3 first. MP3's will transfer just fine. Same with video files... you may have to convert from iTunes to MPG or WMV format.

On a Mac, however, there is a specific Windows Phone utility that grants the same features (file transfer/backup), although I don't believe it includes access to the marketplace... not sure how that works, exactly, since I don't own a Mac.

Moving forward, you also have the means of using cloud-services such as SkyDrive (which works great on PC and Mac) to sync files wirelessly (among other features) as well as Xbox Marketplace (music and videos).

In other words, you may have some adaptations to make, but I think you'll have no trouble making them. It's generally a painless process, and I believe that Nokia offers some tools to help as well.

 

[bobo616]

For now, we use the Zune software to transfer pictures, videos, and music. It's superior to iTunes, in my opinion, but the important thing for you is that any music in AAC format will need to be converted to MP3 first. MP3's will transfer just fine. Same with video files... you may have to convert from iTunes to MPG or WMV format.

On a Mac, however, there is a specific Windows Phone utility that grants the same features (file transfer/backup), although I don't believe it includes access to the marketplace... not sure how that works, exactly, since I don't own a Mac.

Moving forward, you also have the means of using cloud-services such as SkyDrive (which works great on PC and Mac) to sync files wirelessly (among other features) as well as Xbox Marketplace (music and videos).

In other words, you may have some adaptations to make, but I think you'll have no trouble making them. It's generally a painless process, and I believe that Nokia offers some tools to help as well.

As I am a bit paranoid about backing things up in the cloud can I just back my phone up locally on my pc and if so can these backups be encrypted?

It also doesn't look as though I can load my contacts without uploading to hotmail or gmail either, this seems overly complicated as again I don't want all my contacts being uploaded as I have concerns over this.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

As I am a bit paranoid about backing things up in the cloud can I just back my phone up locally on my pc and if so can these backups be encrypted?

It also doesn't look as though I can load my contacts without uploading to hotmail or gmail either, this seems overly complicated as again I don't want all my contacts being uploaded as I have concerns over this.

I remember a point in time where you had to ask yourself what's more important... being paranoid about losing your data or being paranoid about someone accessing your data. Today, there's no such compromise... if you pay attention to your options.

As an IT guy of 20 years, I can tell you that storing them on a Microsoft Account (ie. Hotmail/Outlook) is certainly your safest option if you take advantage of a strong password and the double-factor authentication (tying to your mobile phone number for verifications). In the old days, it was quite easy for people to fake a reset and steal an account. Now it requires a several step verification.

I store every last byte of data on my Microsoft account, and it would take a lot of effort to get to any of it without my knowing it. Here's how I do it...

I have a Microsoft account. Noone knows the master email address to it but me, and likewise on the highly complex password. Even if you discovered the address, you'd have to reset the password, but that would require a phone/text verification as well.

I then setup alias addresses on the account that I use for elsewhere on the web. That way, if someone compromises some site, they're not going to have a valid email or password to use for the account. (As a side note but not necessary for daily use, I have 5 passwords that I cycle through for most things, but for sites with low security, I use a random password... I use LastPass to help me manage things.)

I sync all of my stuff to the phone and my laptop via SkyDrive through that same account. Because I run Windows 8 and Windows Phone, I can initiate a "remote wipe" if they're ever lost or stolen... but I won't lose the data, because it's all on SkyDrive as my backup.

Bottom line... I'm protected on the devices by strong password protection AND remote wipe features in Windows 8 and Windows Phone. I'm protected online, because I don't use the same email for the master account that I use for online sites.

And it's super easy to setup through Outlook.com. Register a single master account, go to options and setup as many aliases as you like (I have two... personal for family/friends, and public for websites/e-commerce). From there, on your favorite sites... update the email addresses to your public one.

As for contacts/data... it's a very simple task to upload to Outlook.com, and you'll ask yourself how you managed to get by with such manual, one-device limitations before.

 

[Nataku4ca]

I remember a point in time where you had to ask yourself what's more important... being paranoid about losing your data or being paranoid about someone accessing your data. Today, there's no such compromise... if you pay attention to your options.

interesting approach, im going to change the way i do some of my things, i never thought about using aliases to protect the master account, thanks for the read :]

 

[bobo616]

I appreciate what you are saying and I like the alias idea but I just prefer to keep things locally on a PC that I know I am the only one that accesses (viruses permitting) when you upload things to a service you are then relying on them keeping things safe. While this is unavoidable on something's such as emails my photos of my kids and contacts etc I like to keep away from anyone who has admin access to the back of hotmail or worse somebody who has the knowledge of how to hack into the hotmail accounts. I also work in the IT field which is why I am even more paranoid than I used to be as I know these things are possible

So can the phones be backed up locally or do you have to back up online as on iOS you can do either?

Thanks

 

[GoodThings2Life]

I appreciate what you are saying and I like the alias idea but I just prefer to keep things locally on a PC that I know I am the only one that accesses (viruses permitting) when you upload things to a service you are then relying on them keeping things safe. While this is unavoidable on something's such as emails my photos of my kids and contacts etc I like to keep away from anyone who has admin access to the back of hotmail or worse somebody who has the knowledge of how to hack into the hotmail accounts. I also work in the IT field which is why I am even more paranoid than I used to be as I know these things are possible

So can the phones be backed up locally or do you have to back up online as on iOS you can do either?

Thanks

Synced to PC, yes, of course... just not to a specific app like Outlook.

Anyway, possible, yes. Likely? When was the last time you had time to just go snoop for things? I sure as heck know I don't have the time.

 

[rockstarzzz]

only thing that i wish we had, (unless im being dumb and not know it exists) is seach within the phone so i can type the app type to find it

We have it!

Swipe left - app list.

Tap on magnifying glass

Start writing app name. If it's in your list it will narrow it down by indexing.

However if it's not, it will let you tap on "search marketplace" so you can see if you can install that app off the market.

To me - pretty neat!

 

[bobo616]

Synced to PC, yes, of course... just not to a specific app like Outlook.

Anyway, possible, yes. Likely? When was the last time you had time to just go snoop for things? I sure as heck know I don't have the time.

Thanks a lot, this is good news about syncing. You never know I maybe converted to syncing online as it does appeal but at least I have both options.

 

[ImmortalWarrior]

I appreciate what you are saying and I like the alias idea but I just prefer to keep things locally on a PC that I know I am the only one that accesses (viruses permitting) when you upload things to a service you are then relying on them keeping things safe. While this is unavoidable on something's such as emails my photos of my kids and contacts etc I like to keep away from anyone who has admin access to the back of hotmail or worse somebody who has the knowledge of how to hack into the hotmail accounts. I also work in the IT field which is why I am even more paranoid than I used to be as I know these things are possible


Thanks

I used to work in internet security for a time. Used to have to use deep packet inspection to detect threats and such. I can tell you now, that as a long as SSL is used you have no need to worry.

The only thing you should NOT do is use Wifi on any public hotspot. A great many services do not encrypt their session data. It takes me 3 minutes to walk into a Starbucks, sniff the packet transfers in the air, steal an active session and masquerade as someone else on twitter or facebook. I don't even need your password.

If you are at home on Wifi, make sure you use WPA2 or better, and use a complex alphanumeric password with symbols. Dictionary brute force attacks are the only way for someone to get in to your Wifi with that and until they break the encryption, they cannot sniff meaningful packets of data from your network.

When using these services on a cell phone, I believe, for the most part, they are secure for WiFi. When using cell tower data (3G etc) rather than wifi, you have nothing to worry about. The amount of computing power required to reverse engineer the encrypted hashes for the packets would be astronomical.

I try and tell people nowadays that there is really little to worry about if you are diligent. Don't use public wifi.
Phishing attacks and other stupidly obvious tactics are required to infect a machine with botnets, trojans, etc so external access can be gained by an attacker.... don't fall for these tricks. Outside of these, only brute force through poor passwords are really dangerous.

And lastly, don't put anything on the internet that you wouldn't want someone else to see. I honestly don't care if someone sees my contact list, or my emails. Nothing in my personal accounts is worth caring that much about. Someone could just as easily steal more important information out of the glovebox of my car. Or my wallet, or in my home where my birth certificate and SIN number is stored.

No need to be paranoid anymore if you follow those simple rules.

 

[1jaxstate1]

LOL, Don't use public wifi? Are you nuts!

You say you worked in IT. What are the odds that someone would take the time and sit around doing what you did. First of all, it was a jerk move, second, the average person doesn't have the know how to do it.

Secondly, Most people don't spend time trying to cray even WEP encrypted networks. They pretty much search for open networks.

I don't know anyone who doesn't use public wifi. It's readily available and it cuts down on carrier data usage. Which is extremely limited, unless you've been lucky enough the grandfather a old unlimited package in.

 

[Nataku4ca]

We have it!

Swipe left - app list.

yes, it can search by name, i meant by type, but then again i think im asking for too much lol (think devs will have to deliberately say what type of app their app is in order to work even if we had that function )

LOL, Don't use public wifi? Are you nuts!

while I agree its hard not to use public wifi (i use it as i don't have data yet...) i think it's still reasonable to be concerned that someone may do what ImmortalWarrior did... it's security, normal ppl obviously won't do it, but criminals... i still remember a few news about jackasses driving around stealing ppl's open network or hack into WEP protected ones to surf child pornography... and the one that swat team flashed banged a girl's home then find out it was her neighbor stealing her wifi lol

better safe than sorry i guess, i just try not to access fb/email/marketplace when im on public wifi

 

[1jaxstate1]

I agree, there's a chance that it may happen, but it's low. And if someone is searching for kiddie porn on your network, LAWSUIT! But I guess that doesn't keep SWAT from kicking down your door. LOL.

yes, it can search by name, i meant by type, but then again i think im asking for too much lol (think devs will have to deliberately say what type of app their app is in order to work even if we had that function )



while I agree its hard not to use public wifi (i use it as i don't have data yet...) i think it's still reasonable to be concerned that someone may do what ImmortalWarrior did... it's security, normal ppl obviously won't do it, but criminals... i still remember a few news about jackasses driving around stealing ppl's open network or hack into WEP protected ones to surf child pornography... and the one that swat team flashed banged a girl's home then find out it was her neighbor stealing her wifi lol

better safe than sorry i guess, i just try not to access fb/email/marketplace when im on public wifi

 

[bobo616]

I used to work in internet security for a time. Used to have to use deep packet inspection to detect threats and such. I can tell you now, that as a long as SSL is used you have no need to worry.

The only thing you should NOT do is use Wifi on any public hotspot. A great many services do not encrypt their session data. It takes me 3 minutes to walk into a Starbucks, sniff the packet transfers in the air, steal an active session and masquerade as someone else on twitter or facebook. I don't even need your password.

If you are at home on Wifi, make sure you use WPA2 or better, and use a complex alphanumeric password with symbols. Dictionary brute force attacks are the only way for someone to get in to your Wifi with that and until they break the encryption, they cannot sniff meaningful packets of data from your network.

When using these services on a cell phone, I believe, for the most part, they are secure for WiFi. When using cell tower data (3G etc) rather than wifi, you have nothing to worry about. The amount of computing power required to reverse engineer the encrypted hashes for the packets would be astronomical.

I try and tell people nowadays that there is really little to worry about if you are diligent. Don't use public wifi.
Phishing attacks and other stupidly obvious tactics are required to infect a machine with botnets, trojans, etc so external access can be gained by an attacker.... don't fall for these tricks. Outside of these, only brute force through poor passwords are really dangerous.

And lastly, don't put anything on the internet that you wouldn't want someone else to see. I honestly don't care if someone sees my contact list, or my emails. Nothing in my personal accounts is worth caring that much about. Someone could just as easily steal more important information out of the glovebox of my car. Or my wallet, or in my home where my birth certificate and SIN number is stored.

No need to be paranoid anymore if you follow those simple rules.

Many thanks, I definitely agree about public wifi as there have been cases in the uk where people have done just what you describe. You have put some of my fears at ease concerning backing up online but wonder if administrators could access the photos etc as I believe too many people put too much of their lives online through sites such as Facebook which means if it falls into the wrong hands they know pretty much everything about you?

 

[infoleather]

System Windows Phone8 will open up a little more, but I do not think anyone knows how far.

 

[JKing106]

The best thing to do is just go to your nearest ATT brick store, and try a phone out.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

You can never be fully protected, unless you just flat out refuse to use technology period, and even then that doesn't protect you in the physical world, only the electronic world. Trust me, if a criminal is that dead set on breaking into something, they will make sure it happens even if it kills them. I thankfully don't have to use the Public WiFi unless my Three signal goes kaput. This includes anything of mine that can connect to the internet via WiFi, I have my OWN PERSONAL WiFi connection with me wherever I have my phone. But I do use Public WiFi if I have to, and I trust it. Because I know if I got that paranoid about my data I would have to remove myself from technology completely (even at work) to feel safe. And the only way to do that... Suicide. Let's not go there OK?

 

[damon312]

Also just switching from an iPhone to my windows phone

Hello, like the original poster, I am coming over from an iPhone 4. Many, many times have I considered buying a lumia but recently I decided to take the plunge and get the 920 on AT&T. Are there any comparable apps to Yelp, which I use or iTrains -which I use heavily for train info for MTA. Also, I use the Chase app a great deal.

 

[mpelti]

Re: Also just switching from an iPhone to my windows phone

Hello, like the original poster, I am coming over from an iPhone 4. Many, many times have I considered buying a lumia but recently I decided to take the plunge and get the 920 on AT&T. Are there any comparable apps to Yelp, which I use or iTrains -which I use heavily for train info for MTA. Also, I use the Chase app a great deal.

Nokia Transit would probably replace iTrains. Chase has an app. Yelp is trickier, that's a big one for me as well, but that's because I'm a member with a number of friends who use it for check-ins, there are plenty of other options that replace the features, but i need the community. That's really what the app situation comes down to, for example WP8 has lomogram, which is a lot like instagram, but if you have friends via the instagram social, it's not the same.

 

[Mark Lavallee]

Re: Also just switching from an iPhone to my windows phone

Hello Damon312! Welcome to Windows Phone! To help answer your questions, a quick search on the marketplace showed an app for both Yelp and Chase. There are 3 MTA apps that I found, one called "MTA Information" which is free and has a four star rating (of 448 reviews), an ad-free version of the same app for $0.99 that has 4.5 stars, and an app called "Train, Track & Times" for $0.99 which has four stars but only 1 reviewer.

I'd also suggest trying out Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps, I'm not sure they do MTA, but they are both excellent and very well might. There is no transit where I live (Oklahoma) so I've never checked into that. Hope you're enjoying your 920!