At some point you will find that you may want to copy these photos onto your PC, laptop or flash drive. Alternately, you plan to take loads of pictures in the upcoming festive season and would like to share them with everyone you were with.

Microsoft has come up with a simple solution to help you transfer your photos, and other content on your laptop or PC. You simply need to download the Windows Phone app for desktop or Windows Phone app for Mac before you begin.

Launch the app on your machine, and then connect your device via the provided USB cable.

The app will then show you a quick summary of the device that’s plugged in, like battery life, last time it was synced, and a colour coded breakdown of storage, so you can see what exactly is using up space.

When you go to “Device Options”, select “import photos and videos from my device…” and you can choose a name for this folder, like Camera Roll. Click “done” and then Sync. Your photos will be located in your desktop or laptop’s My Pictures folder, under the name you selected.

If you want to delete all images from your device, go into “Device Options” and select “delete all content”.

Now you have all your festive season photos on your laptop or PC’s hard drive. If you want to put them onto a flash drive, just plug it into your USB port and copy it over. If you’d like to share them via the cloud, just sync the images to your OneDrive account.

Happy holidays, happy snapping!

You can get the Windows Phone app for Mac here.

Plus your summer with Microsoft and you can stand a chance to win the ultimate Microsoft living room experience consisting of Microsoft devices. To enter visit www.plusmoresummer.com, tell them how you would plus more your summer and what it means to you.

Check out this video to see how you can plus more your summer.

Here’s a clip of one of those dreams being transformed with the help of Lumia.

If you want Lumia to help you #MakeItHappenZA, share your plans with them here.

We suggest you pin the app to your home-screen to get a quick overview at any given time. The dynamic Live Tile will show you how much data you’ve used over your mobile connection or WiFi hotspot without even launching the app.

When you go into the app, you will see this information displayed on a pie chart, with just the info you need to see. Here, you can also perform a number of other tasks like setting limits, and instructing your phone to go into a data conservation mode if you pass a certain amount of usage.

Just go into “set limits” and choose a limit type, which can be either one time, monthly or just unlimited (ouch!). We recommend you put a monthly limit so you don’t go overboard.

Here are some additional tips on how to make your data last longer:
1. Do not watch videos via Facebook or Twitter on you cellular connection..
2. If you notice your apps need to be updated, rather do it when you’re in a WiFi zone.
4. Turn on “Battery Saver”, which turns off some apps that require a data connection.
5. Turn off automatic email sync. Rather opt to check your email manually.

Many of us are guilty of putting off our dreams. Whether it’s starting a business, climbing Kilimanjaro, training for a marathon or spending more time with friends, there are often obstacles that keep us dreaming rather than doing. With Lumia, Microsoft aims to alleviate at least one of these challenges by offering people the tools to enable their dreams no matter where they are or what their budget is.

Whether you are planning, connecting, sharing, editing, capturing, viewing, saving or entertaining, every Lumia brings the best of Microsoft software to life. Microsoft is giving South Africans the chance to turn something small into something big this summer. People can tell us what inspired idea they want to make a reality here and we could help make it happen.

Want to propose to your partner? Go skydiving, throw an epic party, travel the world or be your own boss? With Microsoft you can.

For a look at how others are turning their small ideas into big realities go here.

So what does all this have to do with Lumia? Truth is, your mobile device is an extension and expression of your personality and adds value through its many different features – its colour just being one. For the stylistas, these features include a range of fashion apps that enable you to monitor and stay on top of global trends, journal and share street style and to capture the expression of your own style. With that said, here are our top three Windows Phone fashion apps:

StyleSaint

The fashion savvy team behind StyleSaint hand-pick content to help you create your own looks. The content is inspired by the magic that happens on the runaway, what’s spotted on the streets and helpful style guides on taking the latest trends and giving them your own personal touch.

Lumia Selfie

Share your outfit ideas with the perfect selfie using the Lumia Selfie app. The Auto selfie feature is great when you want a high-quality self-portrait using the main camera, as it automatically recognizes when your face is in shot and takes the photo for you. It’s so simple to capture a picture of yourself, automatically enhance it and have it ready to share straight away. You can also fine-tune your facial details and apply high quality effects.

Zinio

Zinio is the world’s largest newsstand app, allowing you to build your reading list of your favourite fashion magazines. The app features a search function that you can use to search for fashion stories that interest you and can be shared with friends. You can also shop for your magazines on Zinio.

While Microsoft is arming the Hype team with awesome Lumia devices to capture images and videos from the parties, we would also love a few of our faithful fans to get a chance to attend.

You can win one of three VIP tickets to the Hype party taking place this Saturday, 11 October, at The Zen at Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg. Simply tell us which artist you are looking forward to seeing at the event and why, in the comments below.

If you can’t make any of the events you can follow Hype Magazine on Twitter, Instagram and like their Facebook page for updates.

See what AKA had to say about the event:

Hype Magazine 10 year anniversary line-up:

1. 25 OCTOBER 10 YR PARTY
PTA
Venue – Moloko PTA
Artist performing: Khuli Chana
DJ line up: Speedsta/ P-Kuttah/ Vardz
Door entrance: R100
Doors open at 6.30pm

2. 1 NOVEMBER 10 YR PARTY
KZN
Venue – Veritaz
Artist performing: Riky Rick
DJ line up: DJ Feel/ Benny Maverick/ Radix
Door entrance: R100
Doors open at 6.30pm

3. 6 DECEMBER 10 YR PARTY
CPT
Venue – The Loop
Artist performiing: Reason
DJ line up: Azuhl/ Drone/ DJ Lyle
Door entrance: R100
Doors open at 6.30pm

4. 2 DECEMBER 10 YR PARTY
JHB
Venue – Shikisha Lounge
Artist performing: Cashtime Life TBC
DJ line up: PS Squared/ DJ ID/ Fanatic
Door entrance: R60
Doors open at 6.30pm

We’ve investigated this topic and the list of appearances made by Nokia phones is extensive. It would be practically impossible for us to list them all, but here are a few that definitely bare mentioning.

The old and new handsets find their way onto the big screen

The first Nokia smartphone that we know of to appear in a movie was the Nokia Communicator 9000 back in 1997. Val “The Saint” Kilmer uses it to stop the enemy.

Then two years later, in 1999, Keanu Reeves whips out a Nokia 8110 from an envelope in The Matrix. Its (modified) spring-loaded slide, springs into action and Neo has his first conversation with Morpheus.

More recently, we have seen the Lumia range finding its way into the limelight with the Lumia 920 making a cameo appearance in the Warner Brothers movie, Grudge Match.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s – the Nokia Lumia 925! In one of the most of exciting partnerships we’ve been involved in since the Batman: Dark Knight Rises movie franchise, the Lumia 925 also found its way onto the Man of Steel movie.

Lumia smartphones spotted in music videos

Moving away from movies and into music videos is the Lumia 710 as seen in Flo Rida’s Wild Ones ft. Sia video.

Katy Perry has literally taken “Roar” to new heights in the song’s music video. The pop star galavants in a jungle with the 41 megapixel beast (Lumia 1020) in tow, wears animal print and unsurprisingly roars in the face of danger.

The Lumia 920 has also made quite a few appearances on music videos, recently starring in Jennifer Lopez’s Live it up video. A white version of the phone can be seen near the beginning of the video. J-Lo is on the middle of a text conversation with Pitbull, who has sent her a video of activity taking place on the beach.

What about the small screen?

The Lumia 920 is a regular on the hit show, The Vampire Diaries. But in Season 8, the (bright yellow) Lumia 1020 also makes an appearance and features prominently.

Comic inspired and popular TV series, Arrow also features the Lumia 1020. With its iconic camera hump, the 1020 is hard to miss and can be spotted from miles away.

Do you know of any other TV series, movies or music videos that our phones have been featured in or made an appearance on? If you do then, drop us a quick comment with your answer below and stand a chance of winning 1 of 4 double movie tickets.

With over 300 000 apps to its name, the Windows Phone Store continues to gain momentum. A variety of entertaining games are among this growing list of quality applications.

We’ve compiled a list of (out-of-the-ordinary) games, grouped by genre, for you to enjoy. Some of these are exclusive to Windows Phone. You will find options for every gaming preference, including:

Tower defense games

Tower defense games like Garden Rescue (paid with a free trial), by Rainbow Games, consists of the user controlling a variety of plants that need to kill off bugs that are trying to destroy their strawberries, while Vein Rush (Windows Phone only) sees the player infected with a disease and needing to fight off bacteria invading their body from the inside.

Match-3 games

These include the likes of Sky Cups by Fox3D Studios, where the user is a blue circus hippo that sits atop stacks of teacups and must smash through these to get back to ground level. The game is free, plays quickly and yes, speed counts! Why not also try your hand at Jack’s Mistake (paid with free trial) that sees a scientist release a dangerous virus into the world – there are more than 40 levels in this exciting puzzle game.

Shooters or fighting-games

This collection includes Crumble Zone (paid with free trial) by Rebel Twins Indie Games, in which the player is a little green alien who must defend his planet from falling asteroids and other objects that are hurtling his way. The game has a dizzying quality as the player rotates back and forth to defeat the oncoming waves of danger. Also check out the free to download Reaper by Hexage which combines the fun of hack-and-slash action in a side-scrolling realm that is full of magic and monsters. The graphics are rich and the action, engaging.

Among the collection in Windows Phone Store you will also find Mr. Potino, a modern take on hangman, where the player works to guess words provided by the game. This free game not only features a dictionary of more than 50,000 words, but also fantastic graphics that resemble paper cutouts.

If the above is not enough, then check out other great titles such as Strata (by Graveck), Picnic Rumble (Windows Phone exclusive), Manuganu (by Alper Sarikaya), Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix (by K.I.D. d.o.o), Energet (paid only) and 9-Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek (by Artifex Mundi).

These and more are currently available for Lumia in the Windows Phone Store.

Put a lock on it

To help prevent someone from using your phone without your permission (making phone calls, reading your email, and so on), it’s good to use a password or Personal Identification Number (PIN). Lock your phone as well as your SIM card and mobile wallet (if you have them).

• For your PIN, avoid numbers from your birth date, social security or national identification number, phone number, or the like. If you have a password option, use it and make the password strong.
• Keep your PIN or password private. Period. Don’t send it in email, instant, or text messages (they may not be secure), and don’t store it on your phone.

Hey, where’s my phone?

Whether your phone is lodged between couch cushions or left in a taxi, misplacing it is a drag. But setting up Find My Phone can help. From your browser, you can ring your phone, find it on a map, lock it, or even erase it. You can also send your contact info (or another brief message) to show on the lock screen, just in case some kind soul has found it. This “set it and forget it” step is great for your peace of mind.

Say yes to updates

Your phone is designed to work better and be even more secure when it’s running the latest software updates from Microsoft – Windows Phone 8.1 offers several security features that are useful to you, the home user as well as the enterprise user.

When you see a notification on your phone that an update is available, connect your phone to your computer to download and install it or connect to a Wi-Fi network for quick updates without the need to connect to a PC. For more information on updates for your phone, see here.

Defend it against malware

Phones are most susceptible to a kind of malicious software (malware) known as a Trojan Horse. It hides in a seemingly harmless app like a ringtone or game, but contains hidden code designed to exploit or damage the system; running the app unleashes the malware on your phone.

To defend against this ensure that you install reputable apps only. Only download apps from the official Windows Phone Store and stick to popular apps that have received positive reviews and were recommended by other users.

Don’t jailbreak your phone

Most phones will run only software that their operating system trusts. Jail breaking (or unlocking) a phone enables it to run untrusted software, which is much more likely to carry a harmful virus. So, please don’t try it.

Back up your phone

Lastly make sure to back up your phone to your computer, OneDrive, or both.

The files you put on OneDrive are set to private mode by default, alternatively you can also choose to make any of these accessible to select individuals or everyone. To learn more about how OneDrive protects your privacy, see here.

To further help with securing your phone and privacy, simply check out the video below to see the above in action and for more tips: