Now that you've been using Time Machine regularly to back up your computer, you should be fully prepared if your Mac crashes or if you need to move data from one Mac to another. Restoring data from Time Machine is just as easy as backing things up in the first place. Restore a single file or folder If you're just looking for a certain file or folder, start by connecting the external drive you use for Time Machine backups or making sure you can connect to your Time Capsule. Click on the Time Machine item in the menu bar at the top of your screen (it looks like a clock with an arrow running counter-clockwise) and choose Enter Time Machine. Here, all of your saved backups appear in chronological order. Use the visual timeline on the right hand side to scroll through your backups and look for specific items or folders. Older dates are indicated in pink on the timeline; the most up-to-date data on your Mac is indicated in white. (You'll see the word "Now" in bold, white letters on the timeline.) Not sure which backup might hold the last copy of your missing file? Try a Spotlight search in Time Machine based on keywords. You'll see a search field in the corner of each Finder window in the Time Machine view. Type in the file name or keywords from the file, and Spotlight will search through your backups to find the latest copy. Once you think you've found what you're looking for, use OS X's Quick Look to make sure--select the file and then press the spacebar to view the file without having to launch its parent application. Select the file or folder and press the Restore button. The file will automatically be copied to your desktop or to the file's original folder. This may take some time, depending on the size of the transfer. Restore an entire system Sometimes you may want to restore your entire system from a backup, say in event of a crash or when your computer is acting badly and you'd like to dial back the clock to a kinder, gentler time. If that's the case, first connect your Time Machine drive. Then, start up your Mac from the Mountain Lion recovery partition by pressing (and holding down) Command-R at startup. This launches Recovery Mode, which is a portion of your drive that Mountain Lion treats as a separate volume. It includes a few essential utilities for restoring files in case of an issue. For this to work, you must have a complete Time Machine backup that includes all system files. The Mac OS X Utilities window appears. Select Restore From Time Machine Backup. This command will erase the destination drive--your Mac--so only use it if you're restoring an entire volume to its original source or to a replacement drive. (Read the next section for setting up a new Mac or transferring data between Macs). Click Continue until you reach the Select a Backup Source window. Select your Time Machine drive and click Continue. In the Select a Destination window, select your Mac's hard drive. (Using Recovery Mode erases your Mac's hard drive before restoring from Time Machine, but once the process is finished, you'll be able to log in and use your Mac normally). Transfer data between Macs

HTC and Verizon Wireless on Tuesday announced the Droid DNA smartphone, which comes with Android 4.1 and a 5-inch high-definition display that the company said is the most advanced in the market today.

The Droid DNA display can show images at a 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution, at 440 pixels by inch (PPI). That beats the iPhone 5, which has a 326 ppi display, and Samsung's Galaxy S III, which has 306 ppi. The display has a Gorilla Glass 2 outlay for extra ruggedness.

The LTE-compatible smartphone has specifications similar to the HTC's J Butterfly smartphone, which was announced in October for the Japanese market. The Droid DNA has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor and weighs 140 grams.

The Droid DNA will be available through Verizon Wireless in the U.S on Nov. 21 starting at US$199 with a two-year contract.

Screen resolutions are getting denser with new generations of smartphones and tablets. Google and Samsung late last month announced the Nexus 10 tablet with a 10-inch screen that can display images at a 2560-by-1600 pixel resolution. Apple's recently announced fourth-generation iPad with a 9.7-inch screen with a screen resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels.

The Droid DNA was called a "phablet," or a device that includes smartphones and tablet features, in a blog entry by Qualcomm. Some other devices in the phablet category include Samsung's Galaxy Note II, which has a 5.3-inch screen.

At 440 ppi, the Droid DNA gives 25 percent more pixels than the average smartphone with an HD display, wrote Qualcomm's Francisco Cheng, a technical marketing communications manager, in the entry.

"It's how HDTVs are gauged, by rocking that 1080p moniker, and the Droid DNA will do no less by delivering similar picture quality on a smartphone," Cheng wrote.

The Droid DNA is intended to be a multimedia powerhouse, HTC said in a statement. The smartphone has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-inch front camera. Other features include wireless charging, Beats Audio speakers for better sound quality and NFC (near-field communications) for mobile payments and multimedia file sharing.

The smartphone also has 2GB of RAM, and storage information was not immediately available. The device offers long battery life with a 2,020 mAh (milliamp-hour) battery and power saving software features.

HTC has launched a range of new phones, including the Windows Phone 8X and 8S smartphones will have 4.3-inch screens and 4-inch screens respectively. The smartphones will support LTE and run Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8 OS. The 8X and 8S will be available starting this month through 150 mobile operators in 50 countries, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in the U.S.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

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