Media Sharing Home Backup in a Portable Form Factor

DIR-505 Side and Port View

Gone are the days when a router is as big and clunky as your good 'ol telephone. Enter the portable wifi access point/router category from D-Link. The DIR-505 All-in-one Mobile Companion from D-Link gives you 4 modes of operations: Router mode, Access Point, Wifi-Hotspot and Repeater mode which includes an option to attach a USB Storage Device making this one of the smallest Media Storage server in the market. 

Different Modes supported by DIR-505

With the companion D-Link SharePort Mobile app both for Android and IOS devices, this makes it easy to share your photos, videos, or any file for that matter with others who are connected to the same wifi network.

Android SharePort Mobile App

Review (Wifi Hot Spot Point Mode with USB Storage Device)

Setting up the device is easy, it can be done using your Android or IOS device via the D-Link QRS Mobile app or via the browser.  There is a default URL to connect and default username/password, which you have to change later in the Maintenance tab. From there, depending on the mode selected, you can use the wizard or the manual configuration option. Pretty standard router/access point settings.

There is an additional setting for Media Server which allows media streaming on DLNA supported TV's or Windows devices and as well as for Storage devices where you can configure access rights per user and also restrict on which folder on the storage device are they allowed to read/write or both.

Media Server Configuration

Storage Device Configuration

After all is set, apps downloaded and the USB storage device is connected, accessing the files in the remote storage is as easy as launching the app and navigating to the folders in your storage device. For Windows devices, you can also access the USB storage through the browser by the link provided at the bottom of the Storage configuration page.

The file access, transfer and browsing functions of the application and from the browser leaves much to be desired. For one, in the Android application, the UI is a bit clunky and there is no option to view thumbnails of images other than their filenames. Tapping on the files will launch a built-in image browser and an option to download/share through another application is also supported. For video, the file will be downloaded first to your mobile device before it can be played so watch out for storage space.

Is it a viable solution for personal backup in your own home-based storage? Yes, if by definition ,storage and access of files from a central location is the only feature you need, but for a more professional, automated backup, there is much left to be desired from this setup. 

Does portability makes sense here? Well, if you have a scenario where you are on a trip and you want to share files across multiple devices then this is useful. Plus the fact that this device can serve as a repeater for wifi access in hotels that restrict you to one device per account only. As a full-pledged home backup system, there might be better alternatives, unless manual transfer on a tight budget is your acceptable compromise.

And Nexus 5 It Is

After posting about backing up and the Triangle of Death, the inevitable happened. Old phones especially those that are a little more than 2 years old can die. The interesting thing with these solid polycarbonate mold injected phones, is that there is no way to pop the battery out or even check the insides if the problem is related to a mechanical switch defect. No, they cannot be opened up. So it would be interesting to see how the service center takes care of it.

This brings up the need to get a new unit then. And having a dead phone for four hours, that is, being disconnected with your contacts for just four hours can mean that 'something has happened to you' to them. It can also make you feel out of touch, and the rush to get back online can make things happen quickly. At least those times when you would normally go back to the internet and read on more articles comparing specs and reviews, are reduced to remembering what matters most and what is needed urgently.

And so the search for the next phone to replace an old trusty one began. Amidst the rows of Samsung handsets on one corner of the store, both faux-leather-backed and not, neatly arranged against the backdrop of colorful back covers, flip covers and hard covers and small pockets of offerings from the Chinese (Huawei, Oppo, Lenovo), the other Korean (LG) and the Taiwanese (HTC), two models stood out among the rest: the Sony Xperia Z family and the Google Nexus 5, which by the way is also from LG. 

Sony being able to keep the premium look on even the lowest range devices, and the Nexus 5, being the sole model from Google's Nexus program for 2013, makes selecting a bit easier. Whoever said that having more choices is good, can take his or her time and sort it out with the rest of the faux galaxies. 

Sony Xperia Z1 Ultra is very much interesting and very much wide. It can easily be the best looking phablet out there, no doubt. But something smaller as a phone replacement would be more appropriate.

Sony Xperia Z1 compact has similar internals, except for the 20MP (on full manual mode, 8MP on full auto, after some bi-pixel conversion from Sony) camera which dwarfs the 8MP from the Ultra. However, the water-proofing and dust-proofing has left this phone too fat and too small (4-inch screen).

Sony Xperia Z1 falls nicely in-between. Nice specs, nice camera, water-proof, dust-proof and premium. Then comes the price.  The big price difference compared with the Nexus 5 can indeed put a pause in the buying. Except for the 20MP camera (again on full manual, 8MP on full auto) and the element proofing, the other added value would be the removable SD card. But when you already have a dedicated Sony WX80 camera with a 16MP sensor which can be remotely controlled by your phone, it makes you think twice. Also it makes you carry twice the amount of gadgets of course in the real world scenario. But buying a Z1 can make that WX80 purchase a little bit redundant if not for the selfie potential. Decisions, decisions.

Finally, it all boiled down to what is essential at the moment. A phone that has a very good specs without the high impact on the pocket. Also a phone that can be updated quite regularly would make it last longer (remember the TF101 story). The bad experience with HTC One X when it came to the software upgrade part really drove home a point, Nexus wins here by a mile, although Sony is not far behind in keeping their flagships up to date. Finally the vanilla UI which runs so seamlessly on the Nexus can never be matched by any Wiz or Sense, and that is also one of the essential considerations.

And so Nexus 5 it is. Very high CPU/GPU/RAM specs. Good to decent camera with hardware OIS from Sony. Comfortable enough to hold and in the pocket. Easily upgradeable OS direct from the source (Google). And a no fuss UI that just works, in a snap, fluid-like motion. Android as it should be.

Rethinking the Triangle Of Death

When this happens on your device at an unexpected time, out of nowhere when it suddenly decides to freeze on the OEM's boot logo, you begin to look back at what you are about to lose.

It's not everyday that you make a backup or even worse is, when you have a number of these different applications and services, the sheer scope of determining when and which app and data to backup can become so complicated that we tend to skip doing them at all. Sometimes we even think that well, they are probably backed up by the app developer somewhere in the cloud.

Well, honestly, not all apps have this cloud sync feature, not all even have a way to export data and make it easy for you to load exported backups. 

Pictures, messages, files exchanged and yes, stickers, those cute fancy stickers which means more than what they contain when received from a specific person are at risk of being lost when you see the Triangle of Death on your device. And what all these things represent are memories, moments that we think we can keep now that we are storing them digitally.

Well, the simple answer is no. These data are still either much pretty locally stored on the device, or on some instances they are stored where they are easily accessible (in the sd card of the device, which can be accessed directly as a normal USB storage device), and on really bad situations, they are even stored in an SQL lite database that only the app can access inside the systems folder.

So how to be TOD-proof? Here are some tips.

Pictures. 

Dropbox, Facebook, Google+ offer ways to automatically sync pictures from your device to your account in the cloud. They also offer to sync only when wifi is connected (to save your data plan) or even only when you are charging (to save your battery juice when you use a public wifi or a hotspot in your favorite coffee shop). You can opt to save on full resolution or on lower resolution (2048px on Google+, unlimited). The former means you need to have a bigger cloud storage, the latter means you may get unlimited storage, your choice.

Chat Messages (and pictures sent around)

Line and Viber are the most commonly used messaging app (probably Whatsapp, before the FB takeover) but they are also the worst when it comes to back ups.  

Line indeed has an email registration, but there is no mention of storing message history or even pictures exchanged using the service, linked to this email account.  Worst is activating the same email account on another device, effectively deletes your chat history on the older device.

Viber on the other hand has the option to export the chat history but no way to load them back after a reset (or even on a new device). There are ways to do this of course but then, without these techy people going through the same pain, we mortals would have not known how to do this. Viber also stores photos exchanged in another folder inside the Photos/DCIM. This means you can pull them out when you access your device as a USB storage, or on best cases, when doing a factory reset, or even a wipe, there is an option not to include files in the secondary storage.

So in short both Line and Viber do have a very poor recovery on a TOD situation (or an upgrade scenario as well). So think twice when relying on these services to collect your group chat memories and/or special someone moments.

Here is where Hangout shines, because it keeps your chat history (there is also an option to not keep the history), messages and pictures exchanged in the process. Thanks to integration with Google+, the pictures are stored in your Google+ Photos as well. No fancy stickers here though but at least the emoticons are saved as well. Also all accessible via the Hangout plugins in Gmail or Google+.

Files, Documents, Spreadsheets

Google Drive is a one stop shop here. And if you are even still using Gmail as your trusted storage, yes, attachments can be moved to Drive from Gmail. The alternative would be to split things up, Dropbox for files, Gmail for attachments, Spreadsheet files synced to Dropbox but opened by another spreadsheet app can be clunky and prone to too-many-steps syndrome.

Music, Books, Media

For this part, solutions can vary, but if available in your country, use Google's, and that means Google Playbook and Google Play. An alternative would be Amazon Kindle, or some third party streaming service. However, for this area, cloud is already a given. Because stuff are bought online and linked to an email account, chances are you are just downloading an offline copy of what is already stored somewhere safe.

Contacts

Google Contacts is your best bet here. It is very much cross platform. Any email service is also possible but then again if they only handle email and contacts, then you need another app or service to do the others. That falls into too-many-steps syndrome as well.

So...

The trick is to decouple your important data from your device, automatically synchronize them in a reliable cloud service (most important is automatically!) and select the services or apps which allows you to do both above. 

And as long as the above services are used and ensured that the sync is running perfectly, it will not be as difficult and frustrating when you are confronted with this once in a device lifetime scenario. Also this makes it a whole lot easier to do an upgrade later. One major advantage of using Google account is that whether you decide to stay in the Android fence or jump over IOS, when you sync your data through Google, it is still very much possible for you to access them on both platforms. 

If you are using non-Google apps another thing to consider is, are they in there for the long haul? Or they are just waiting for an investor to come and buy them and the subscribers on their service.  What's in it for them to keep the service running, and is there a way out for your data out? Because there is nothing as equally tragic as the Triangle of Death, as the Death of an App situation.

What about security, snooping...

Well, think about this: Snapchat and the false security of a deleted message against Google https and encryption. Also distributing your content across different apps and services makes it more difficult to ensure that each service provider has the same level of security. A bigger company like Google (or Apple) have so much at stake in ensuring a certain level of service guarantee, while a smaller company can always be at the mercy of the technology capability they can provide and the next bigger company willing to swallow them.