Reach-out to your stolen phone

Your electronic device has been stolen…are you able to recover it?  Maybe…

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There was an incident where an Apple MacBook was stolen, but it was able to be returned to it’s owner because of an application named Hidden:

“Hidden tracks your computer’s location, takes real time photos of the thief and screenshots of them using your computer…

“Hidden is a small application which sits idle on your computer until you need it. When your computer gets stolen simply login to your online Tracking Control Panel and mark your computer as stolen. Hidden will kick into action and locate your stolen computer anywhere on the planet, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use.”

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If your phone is stolen, you might be able to get it back.

Kaspersky Mobile Security is a service for Android devices.  It now has a feature called “Mugshot”:  the front-facing camera can now be activated remotely.  Images can be sent to an e-mail account, or viewed from the web-based control center.

Through the new web-based control center, owners can also:
Remotely lock their missing smartphone to secure personal information
Remotely wipe sensitive information from their missing smartphone
Remotely locate their lost or stolen smartphone using GPS, GSM or Wi-Fi, and Google Maps
Review logs of recent activities, such as their status and the results of any commands sent to the phone, or the installation of a new SIM card

Kaspersky Mobile Security also includes protection from spam, viruses, and spyware.

The link for the product is http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-computer-security/mobile-security?domain=kaspersky.com

 

Cobra bluetooth mono and stereo headsets for phones

I have long been a fan of products from Cobra…I’ve used many, many of their CB radios.  (Oh, yeah…I still remember my license issued to me from the FCC…)

I like headsets.  I mean REAL “headsets”.  Always have.  Their boom microphones are much better at gathering sound from the mouth…because they’re directly in front of it.  And, they can ignore ambient noise.

mono
CBTH8

The Cobra CBTH8 Bluetooth Headset also has noise-cancelling technology.  Talk-time is up to 20 hours long, and standby-time can be as much as 400 hours (that’s at least 16 days).  It charges via a USB port, and a 12 volt car adapter is included.

OK…so maybe you’re more of an “earpiece person”…

The Cobra CBTH5 goes beyond that by providing mono…AND stereo…capability.  It can be used as a mono, one piece unit…and an extra earpiece is included that attaches to the main transceiver to provide stereo functionality.

Talk-time and music-streaming time is up to 5 hours; standby-time is up to 300 hours (at least 12 days).  This bluetooth unit weighs only 0.40 ounces.  It charges via a USB port, and a 12-volt vehicle charger is included.

CBTH5

UPDATE:

I posted this review on 2011 June 1…today, June 28.  I noticed that the CBTH5 is opening:  the casing at the rear/back of the device has seperated.  And, it will no longer power-on.

Sprint Says No Android 2.3 For HTC EVO 4G…Yet.

After doing a fairly thorough search of the interweb, I discovered that there have been a plethora of answers to the question “when will my HTC EVO 4G (on the Sprint Network) receive the next version of Android, 2.3?”

But none of those posted appeared to be ‘official’ or actually FROM either Sprint or HTC.

So I wrote to Sprint customer service this morning and surprisingly received a rather candid answer in the afternoon!

And this is what Sprint Customer Service had to say:

“Thank you for contacting Sprint regarding Android 2.3 version.”

“At present, we are only offering Android 2.2 Froyo version for the HTC
EVO phone.”

“We keep on upgrading our phone’s software time to time. Right now, I am
unable to inform when the Android 2.3 Ginger software version will be
available for our customers. Whenever the new software update is
available, you will be able to see the information on our website
www.sprint.com/downloads

“For further information, you can always call Sprint Technical Support at
1-888-211-4727 and follow the technical prompts. Our representative will
be happy to help you. We value your business and appreciate the opportunity to answer your
questions.”

While this news isn’t what I wanted to hear, it isn’t a decisive and devastating ‘NO!’ either…and if you want to filter the above first-hand experience through the hopes and wishes of other posters, it would appear to be popular OPINION that we EVO users will ‘feel the love’ sometime before Android 2.4 becomes the ‘standard’ on newly released smart phones.