storage

A handful of you are already planning on picking up the Surface Pro when it comes out February 9 (use that reservation card). Before you make the decision on whether to get the 64GB or 128GB version you should know about some storage issues. Like the original Surface RT, useable storage on the Surface Pro will be less than advertised. If you pick up the 128GB model you’re looking at 83GB left and if you pick up the 64GB version you’ll be stuck with 23Gb. Let that sink in.

Amazon currently has a deal running where customers can save up to 70% on selected SanDisk memory. This includes an array of SD Cards, perfect for your upcoming Windows 8 tablet or Windows Phone 8 handset. 32GB and 64GB SD Cards are included in the deal starting from just $19.99, as well as 8-64GB CompactFlash modules.

Backing up app data on SkyDrive--not cool with Microsoft?

An interesting controversy spring up over at the AppHub forums over the use of SkyDrive for backing up app data—not so much photos and documents (which is fine) but rather unintelligible files created by apps for app-specific data.

The crux of it was someone from the SkyDrive team made a comment that using SkyDrive for such a purpose goes against the user agreement for the API and it could result in the Windows Phone app being yanked from the Marketplace.

Justin Angel, Principal Engineer for Windows Phone experience at Nokia, fervently objected to this idea noting

“As SkyDrive API usage is not part of the Application Certification Guidelines I resent that team threatening app developers with expulsion from the marketplace for misuse of their API.”

It’s certainly a good point although we see the reasoning behind the SkyDrive team’s position. Luckily things are not as dire as expected.

The Windows Phone app SkyManager from JDB Pocketware is a nice alternative to access your SkyDrive account. It was temporarily pulled from the Marketplace a short time ago due to logo issues but is back and was recently updated to version 1.2.  The v1.2 update comes just a few days after seeing the version 1.1 update being pushed out that added a good bit of functionality to SkyManager.

SkyManager lays your SkyDrive contents out in either tile fashion or a list view. SkyManager allows you to create and edit folders, upload/download content, and browse your shared folders. Your image uploads can be custom set to reduce resolution (width) or max it out at 2048 pixels. Additional features for SkyManager includes:

• Support for ZIP files, Support for video files
• Sharing folders via email, SMS or posting on your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Live or LinkedIn)
• Multi-user/Multi-account support.

We've tinkered with SkyManager for some time now and find it to be a simple, yet feature rich alternative to the Microsoft SkyDrive app. There are two versions available for SkyManager over at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

There is a free version that is ad supported and has some limited functionality (can't pin folders to Start Screen, no photo editing tools, no multiple account support, and no shortened URLs). The full version of SkyManager is ad free and will cost you $2.99.

You can find SkyManager free here and SkyManager full here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

We previously looked at the official SnapCrowd app heading to Windows Phone, with a planned March release. We're now happy to announce that the app is finally available on the Marketplace and has been since April 10th. The digital media sharing service enables users to upload, view and stream media and even add subusers to the account. Sporting robust security, including SSL / TLS and HTTPS protocol layers, SnapCrowd also keeps data relatively secure. 

The service supports video, music, contacts, photos, contacts and documents. As mentioned above, streaming is a feature that can be used for digital media, including videos. An interesting part of the service itself is the subuser functionality, allowing other users to connect and stream media and files under one account with a single paid plan.

There are three plans that are fairly affordable compared to competitors, a free option boasts 10GB of storage (for a limited time) with one subuser, then the price goes up to $59 for 50GB of storage and finally $99 for 100GB of storage with increased subusers.

Check out the quick video below for more information.

You can download SnapCrowd from the Marketplace for free, and sign up for the available plans on the website (snapcrowd.com).

BoxShot, a light Dropbox app for Windows Phone, has been updated to 2.2. In this update we now have pinnable folder functionality, allowing users to pin individual folders from their Dropbox account to the home screen for more convenient access. The app will also now be displayed in the Pictures Hub under the "Applications" pivot, and a few fixes were thrown into the mix.

You can download Boxshot from the Marketplace for just $.99 (79p), with a free (ad-supported) version available. Be sure to check out our full review of the app too.

Storage is an important aspect of your Windows Phone. Whether you're just downloading a few apps and games, taking pictures & video, or (like me) loading a whole load of music onto your device ready for your commutes into work, you need to have the gigabytes to hold that information on your phone.  However, how much storage memory is needed can vary from individual to individual.

So when you're making the decision on which phone to spend your hard earned money on, and particularly when you are committing to a long term contract, you should be considering the advertised storage on the device. Remember that storage on a Windows Phone cannot be supplemented with a micro SD card.

It's fairly common knowledge that the advertised '16GB' or '8GB' of storage is not the amount you actually end up with, the amount varies based on the filesystem, type of storage, and system files. But what you may not realise is just how much of a difference there is between some of the new 2nd generation phones out there on the market right now.

Luckily, here at WPCentral we've got you covered, and have put together the list below which shows the reported "Total Storage" for each of our review devices.  "Total Storage" is essentially the storage space your Windows Phone can see or be used for file storage.

As you can see, certainly with devices claiming '16GB' of storage there's quite a divide, and if every single bit counts to you, it would definitely be worth considering these figures when you're picking up a new Windows Phone.

Is your device showing a different figure?  Check the 'about' screen in your phone's settings and then sound off in the comments!

In an interesting follow up to the "beware if you install more memory to WP7!" advice from Microsoft, AT&T seems to have no problem with you doing so. If you recall, in the article, the responsibility was basically passed off to the carriers if they want to "support" such behavior. Microsoft had said that many of the microSD cards out on the market were unreliable and therefore may cause problems.

Over in the AT&T forums, user eshudnow emailed Jeff Bradley, Senior Vice President of Devices for AT&T about the issue and this is reportedly his response:

Thanks for your interest in our new Windows Phone 7 devices. We are very excited as well about this great new experience being delivered on some very cool devices on the nation’s fastest network.

The devices will support the addition of up to a 32GB class 2 (or higher) microSD card. You need to insert the card before you power up the device the first time so that the operating system can map it as available memory to maximize its utilization. This is outlined in the Quick Start Guide you receive in the box. I encourage you to read this before you launch the device the first time to have the best experience with a microSD card.

Thanks again for your interest. I hope you like it as much as I do. If you have a moment, please let me know your experience.

So there you go. The max (at this point) seems to be 32GB and AT&T has no issue with you doing this and in fact, they give you explicit instructions on how to go about doing it. Sounds good to us. Hopefully other carriers will take a more lenient approach. Though this still raises the question if there will be a "warranty void sticker" and if so, will AT&T still enforce that or not?

Source: AT&T Support Forum; Thanks, electricbopeep, in comments!