Technology experts find new ways to keep phones safe

Every smart phone owner dreads losing it, given its cost and prestige.

Most users also store considerable amount of information in their hand-held devices, with some people using them as mobile offices.

The loss of vital information like contacts and recorded schedules coupled with the emotional stress of losing a valuable item can weigh down on users for a long time.

But technology experts are increasingly coming up with new innovations to provide security for hand held devices and laptops.

The latest to grace the market is the gadget Zomm by the company formed just over a year ago under the same name.

Zomm is a new technology, fresh in the digital market, that helps smart phone users ensure they have their gadgets with them at all times.

It is small, circular in design and with a diameter of about two inches and about half and inch wide functioning by blue tooth technology.

The device is attached to a key chain or carried in the pocket by the user and is programmed to sync with the users hand held device via blue tooth.

When the phone is out of a preprogrammed circumference, by default 30 centimeters, Zomm will vibrate, flash and then literally scream out an alarm.

Besides acting as a digital leash for the phone, Zomm also acts as a panic button for users in emergency situations.

When the user presses a button on the device for nine seconds, it lets out an alarm notifying those around of the emergency situation.

Continued pressing will further prompt the device to automatically call a pre -programmed emergency number of the user’s choice.

This cutting edge technology retails for around Sh6,400 but is yet to be unveiled in the Kenyan market.

Zomm follows in the wake of other innovations developed to allow mobile users to keep tabs on their phones.

Mobile Tracker is one such technology from Samsung introduced in the Kenyan market several years ago to provide a security solution for its customers.

Upon installation of the Mobile Tracker hardware device, the user inputs two numbers to be notified if another SIM card is inserted in the handset.

If the phone happens to be stolen and another SIM card is inserted, the phone will send an SMS to the preferred numbers without the thief’s knowledge.

The SMS will contain the IMEI number of your phone and the new SIM card phone number.

The owner can then use this information to take appropriate action to retrieve their phone.

Once the mobile tracker hardware has been installed, the phone cannot be flushed.

The tracker is, however, limited to dual-SIM handsets due to variations in hardware.

According to Samsung’s Marketing Manager Amit Patel, more consumers are becoming aware of mobile tracking services.

“The Mobile Tracker has led to reduced cases of mobile theft as mobile users are continually asking for handsets with mobile tracking hardware,” he said.

Ujanja is another security device developed last year by Kenyan techpreneur George Njoroge, the managing director of East African Data Handlers.

Motivated by a prior bad experience of losing a phone and lap top in a car jacking incident, George decided to find a way of stopping the criminals on their tracks.

Ujanja works with a similar technology to Mobile Tracker but is instead installed as software on any compatible mobile device irrespective of the brand.

The software can be bought at Sh2,000 at the developers’ website or at selected retail outlets in Nairobi.

The technology even allows users to wipe off sensitive data on their handheld devices should it fall into the wrong hands.

This goes a long way in deterring cases of industrial espionage by ensuring that company secretsare not stolen.

According to Mr Njoroge, the technology has so far recovered more than 300 stolen mobile phones.

“Many customers are normally exited at the seemingly impossible prospect of recovering their lost hand held device”, he says.

The increasing popularity of mobile tracking is expected to reduce mobile phone thefts since criminals fear being tracked down.

With the ongoing SIM card registration, more mobile subscribers are set to have their information recorded.

This will see a bigger and more accurate digital database that will make it even harder for mobile thieves to operate.

The SIM card registration process is set to complement the efforts of mobile tracking systems in the mobile industry.

“Mobile users will have their details recorded and establishing the phone and IMEI numbers of individual users will be possible,” says Mr Patel.

This means that arrest and prosecution of mobile phone thieves will be considerably easier as the police can trace the stolen handsets with information in the database.