Tag Archive for ‘GPS’
According to the latest reports, the BlackBerry Protect service is not undergoing a closed beta testing procedure. At this point we are expecting that the system might be moved up to open beta testing in less than a couple of months and after that period, the official launch –it is estimated that the service will be made open to BlackBerry users near the end of the year.
For those who have not heard, the BlackBerry Protect is a new service that has been designed by RIM for users who have the tendency to lose their smart phone. Of course, for anyone who cares about privacy and keeping data safe, this is one service that that is hard to pass up (even if you do not have the tendency to misplace or lose the device).
Protect gives users a special website that they can access in order to find their missing BlackBerry smartphones, and in cases where being able to retrieve the device is an impossibility, there are provisions for being able to lock down or even delete the phone’s contents remotely.
The reason for this service is that RIM wants to help their clients to protect in-phone data. Since most BB users are corporate clients, they often carry devices that contain sensitive information. Should these smart phones ever be used by others, then the data that is contained will be compromised. As such, being able to retrieve of delete content from a BlackBerry is a very big deal. Aside from completely wiping out the data from a BlackBerry handset, there is also the option to lock the phone –which will prevent anyone using the device to extract data from the handset.
There are also a couple of side functions that are a little less extreme such as locating the handset through GPS and by making it ring loudly, but this only applies to cases where the smart phone has been misplaced nearby and not during theft.
Tags: BlackBerry, Blackberry-Protect, GPS, RIM
While it is hard to get information off the Apple iPhone, the smart phone itself is keeping a very tight list of information about its users. And this is why losing an iPhone is not only expensive, but it is also dangerous.
It has been reported that it is the police that are mostly doing the forensic work using iPhone data as evidence; nothing will stop a malicious individual to turn the tables on unsuspecting people. Here are a few things that all iPhone users should know about their smart phones.
First off, never type anything suspicious or compromising on your iPhone. The Apple device’s dictionary is not only designed to help people type faster on the virtual keyboard, but also for being able to keylog the messages that you have typed from anywhere between the last three months to even a whole year ago.
While specifics have not been revealed, one can only assume that the logs extend only up to certain point, and users who text heavily may have only the most recent messages in the cache.
Now if that was not scary enough, the iPhone can also provide the world of a user’s whereabouts. While phone signal triangulation through cell sites are a pretty common practice, the iPhone also has geo-tagging set to “on” by default. Yes, this means that those self images that users took when they woke up that morning and uploaded in the net are carrying a small line of data that actually points out their GPS location.
Speaking of GPS, the iPhone also takes a quick screen shot of the map whenever the map function is turned off. While the actual purpose of this image is not known, the number of these images can be quite plenty –enough to draw a rough map of places that users have been to and checked out, and quite possibly, enough to create a reasonably accurate profile.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPhone, geo-tagging, GPS, security, smartphone
A special music edition of the OT-708 One Touch Mini is now available at the official Phonse4U website. The handset, which bears the nickname “Rainbow”, is a special edition version of the device that sports a new color theme and music that features the artist Eliza Doolittle.
The new color scheme is simple and there is only one complimentary music track included in the phone. But aside from that, the handset is pretty much the same OT-708 handset that was released last year. The special edition is confirmed to have a retail price of 29.95 Pounds on pay as you go and this version is exclusive to Phones4U (fans of the music artist would certainly appreciate the cheap price for this handset).
Specs wise, the Rainbow is a standard 2G handset with a decent touch screen display.
The 2.4 inch TFT touch screen gives users 240 x 320 pixels of resolution and about 256k color capacity. It is decent enough for handling most common low resolution videos and for viewing the internet. Images are rendered nicely onscreen but do not expect super rich colors and quality. The user interface on the handset bring together the use of widgets, embedded images and a series of touch sensitive keys located on the bottom of the screen.
With a 1.3 mega pixel camera, this device will not be good for taking super high resolution images. But if all you need is a decent snapper for taking quick photos, it will fit the job nicely. The internal memory for storing content is only 5 MB so users are expected to have a microSD card (it supports up to 4GB cards).
In terms of additional features, the Rainbow offers quite little aside from music playback and web browsing support. Lack of GPS means that no map and location based services will be available.
Tags: 2G, GPS, microSD-card, OT-708-One-Touch-Mini, Phones4U, Rainbow
We all know how Nokia announced earlier this year that they would be making their Ovi maps satellite navigation a free service. This big announcement changed the way that people viewed GPS features –not as a function of leisure, but as a common commodity that enabled people to explore and visit new places all over the world.
The Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition is a basic candy bar handset that gives users the extra benefit of GPS capabilities. The phone connects to Nokia’s Ovi network and provides the user with up to date information and directions on how to get to specific destinations. This is a big convenience for many people and since the Nokia 2710 is a budget handset, it basically means that Nokia has truly made sat nav a service that everyone can attain.
And while one might not think much of sat nav technology and GPS, it is actually a pretty big thing. Many businesses and small stores benefit a lot from GPS navigation services –some shops have thrived on the fact that they have been tagged as a ‘point of interest’ on maps –directing more customers their way.
Most people, when visiting a new town or someplace similar, would prefer to stick to main roads and avoid areas that are hard to navigate. But with the aid of a GPS device, getting around and seeing the sights is now a freedom of choice. Yes, satellite navigation is also a tool of cultural growth and experience.
Overall, the Nokia 2710 is a pretty decent mobile phone. Not that it can do much aside from provide directions, connect to GPRS/EDGE networks and for accessing the Ovi store. But in that regard, it does plenty for a basic mobile device –and one that standard GSM phone users should consider switching to.
Tags: GPS, Nokia, Nokia-2710, Nokia-2710-Navigation-Edition, Ovi-maps, Sat-nav
Foursquare, a social networking site tied to a mobile phone’s GPS feature lets people log where they are currently to determine which places are happening and which are not, has refined their techniques in verifying if a user is truly at the location he says he is at any given time.
Because the Foursquare system gives away “mayorships”, points as well as virtual badges for those who constantly visit specific places, there have been people abusing the system. An issue has been brought to the Foursquare team’s attention wherein people are getting awarded even if they are just logging in false locations without enabling the GPS feature.
The newest blog of the Foursquare team addressed this concern and is now going to improve their award system by checking the GPS information as well as by taking other measure in order to verify a location even if the mobile phone does not support GPS. What these measures are were not exactly detailed, but that is to prevent people to find another loop hole in the system.
Dubbed the “cheater code” the team verified that it took a while to implement such a system but they have been listening to client concerns.
The team will allow checking in and out of location but will not provide point for doing so. This makes sure that the location information supplied is current but still gives other users a fair chance of getting achievements by logging in where they currently are.
The people who have been cheated out of their virtual awards must have felt like completely giving up and stopped logging in. Now that the problem has a solution, at least the new mayors will be getting their titles in a legit way. So no more stealing, cheating and messing with Foursquare politics, people.
Head over to Geek for more about the Foursquare cheater code.
Tags: apps, Foursquare, GPS
