Before Upgrading Your Smartphone, You Must Do These 3 Things

When I first arrived at Hot 99.1 in March 2012, I was new to the smartphone game. It was in July 2012 when I got the then-new Samsung Galaxy S3 (sorry iPhone fans). And like many people, I signed a 2-year contract with one of the four major carriers, meaning that July of this year, I'll have to make another choice.

Whether I upgrade to the upcoming Galaxy S5, the relatively new S4, or even switch to an iPhone (rumors that the iPhone 6 will come out this year are out there), it's important to know how to safely prepare the "old" device to migrate to the "new" device without passing on personal data that you may not want to really pass on.

Here are three things you need to do before you change devices:

1. Remove the SIM card. The SIM card is a small card installed on phones that store personal and phone location data. It is the easiest way to transfer the information from one phone to another and keep the same phone number.

2. Remove the SD card. If you're like me, you installed a small card to give yourself more memory in your phone. Remember to properly remove it. Provided it's not too full, you can transfer your pictures, videos, documents, and contacts to your SD card so it can be easily placed in the new device.

3. Wipe your device. Depending on the type of phone you have, there are different ways to do this. On the Samsung Galaxy S3, for example, you can go to Settings > Backup and reset > Factory data reset and that will reset all the settings and delete all data on the device.

Of course, you can always talk to your mobile phone provider who I'm sure will be happy to assist you with all of the above.