TheNewsGuru

Tag: Google servers

  • How to backup your Android phone or Tablet

    Knowing how to backup your Android phone or Tablet is an essential ‘life’ skill to have.

    With the growing numbers of cyber attack globally, now is the perfect time to make sure you have a backup of your Android smartphone or tablet, as this means if something goes wrong, then you can easily restore your Android device back to the way it was before.

    Android is ready-made for syncing with cloud services, so wherever possible, use online services to back up important data such as emails, contacts and calendars.

    Gmail is a great service that makes backing up data in your Android device easy and straightforward.

    If you use an Android device, it means you already have a Google account, a Gmail and this Google account is already attached to the device.

    With this account, and the Google Sync feature on your Android phone, you can easily back up contacts, email, calendar and bookmarks.

    If your Android device is full of precious photos and home videos, this guide will show you how to back them all up too.

    Here is how to backup your Android device using Google Backup & Restore

    • Go to Settings > Accounts > tap Google > select the Google account you wish to use
    • Check everything you want to sync as shown below:

    Sync settings

    • Go back to Settings > Backup & reset
    • Activate ‘Back up my data’ if it is not already activated
    • Select the same account you selected above from ‘Backup account’
    • Activate ‘Automatic restore’ as shown below:

    Backup and reset

    Note: For those on Android versions older than 6.0., the illustrations above look similar, and has the same options overall.

    ‘Backup & reset’ will save almost everything, but it is advisable to make sure your documents, photos and videos are saved to the Google Drive app on your Android device.

    Google Photos is an option you can use for your photos as well and they are automatically backed up in Google servers.

    With this process, you do not have to worry when you lose your phone.

    Once you sign into the selected Google account on a new Android phone or tablet you will instantly have all your contacts, browser bookmarks, movies, music, and even photos restored if you followed this guide.

     

  • Google launches servers in Cuba to speed up YouTube

    Google launches servers in Cuba to speed up YouTube

    Google has launched its servers in Cuba, meaning the country will now store Google contents locally, which will see Cubans who use Google services in the country notice contents load much faster.

    Google and the state-run telecom company Etecsa inked a deal in December to provide Cuban users access to the Google Global Cache (GGC). This network caches popular Google content, like YouTube videos and Google searches, for faster delivery to people’s phones and computers.

    According to a CNNtech report, When someone in Cuba watches a YouTube video for the first time, that content has to travel through undersea cables from servers in another country. But once it gets to Cuba, it will now be stored on local servers, and the next person who wants to watch it will have a noticeably faster load time.

    According to the report, Internet access in Cuba is limited and expensive, and some estimates say as little as 5% of people have internet at home. In order to surf the web, Cubans often congregate at cafes, hotels, and other public areas that have WiFi.

    According to a 2016 report from Freedom House, outdated infrastructure, government regulation, and the cost prevent widespread access. “Despite modest steps to increase internet access, Cuba remains one of the world’s most repressive environments for information and communication technologies,” the report said.

    However, it is slowly becoming more accessible.

    Emily Parker wrote the book “Now I Know Who My Comrades Are,” about internet activism in Cuba and other countries. She says the internet could pose a threat to the Cuban government’s control over information.

    “Google’s entry signals the Cuban government’s understanding that the Internet is necessary for economic development,” Parker said.

    Last year, Google partnered with a local artist known as Kcho to open a technology centre that provides free, faster internet to the public.

    Google’s servers won’t bring internet to more people, but those who already have the internet will see faster load times for Google services.

    Doug Madory, Director of Internet Analysis at internet performance company Dyn, noticed the GGC nodes activate on Wednesday for Google Search. He said some people are reporting that they aren’t yet being directed to the Cuban GGC for YouTube, but it should happen soon.

    “It is a milestone, as this is the first time an outside internet company has hosted anything in Cuba,” Madory said.