Last year, we featured a few tech-savvy lost and found services that let consumers label their valuables and recover them if lost or stolen.
A recent spotting came in from Singapore, where Bak2u offers various ways of securing expensive gadgets. Bak2u labels have ID numbers and can be stuck on portable devices. Owners register their items on Bak2u's website, and if an item is found, the finder can call a toll-free number to return the item. As Bak2u says, the service makes it easy for good Samaritans to return expensive gadgets to their owners.*
Of course, some finders would rather be keepers than good Samaritans. Which is where Bak2u's PhoneBak comes in. Launched recently, PhoneBak is stealth software that quietly alerts the owner when a thief turns on a stolen device after inserting his own SIM card.
How it works? PhoneBak lets a user select a friend or family member's phone number. The software can detect a change in SIM card, and when it does, it silently sends an SMS message to that preset number. The message includes the new SIM card's phone number, which means that the owner or police can track the thief and kindly request that the phone be returned.
PhoneBak software, which is priced at SGD 25.00 (USD 15/EUR 12.50), is currently only available for smartphones/mobile PDAs that run Microsoft's Pocket PC software. Versions for other phone operating systems are expected later this year. (zTrace offers a similar service for laptops.)
Considering the number of expensive mobile devices stolen every day, and the annoyance caused by subsequent data loss, this should be an easy sell to consumers around the world.
Website: http://www.bak2u.com
Contact: http://www.bak2u.com/contact.php / +65 6826-1085
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* A very similar tagging service was launched in The Netherlands a few months ago: redDog.
I am a user of this program. A fantastic idea that is so simple and yet innovative.
My company is using bak2u's anti-theft softwares for cellphones, pda phones and laptops too. Very innovative solutions.
Check out their new one with video capturing of the thief from Mac laptops.
This is a really neat idea to add in a level of security into the gadgets
Just got the PDA software. Neat!
If only I had the software when I bought my phone. Just lost it 2 days ago.
what if the phone is reformatted or flashed out, thats what technicians do here in the philippines, what happens to the software secretly installed in the phone? will it still be there? will it still work? will it still do what it was programmed to do?
hello fren, can i get this software for Nokia mobile, is it free for subscriber? if yes then plz foward this software in my email address to save my Nokia Cell Phone from Theft.
Shyam, it is not free. Guess you didn't read carefully. It is a paying service for a one time purchase.
Blackberry is out soon too. Cool.
I just bought 1 copy for my curve.
As questioned by Ramon on 13th September 2007. If the phone is re-formatted, yes you lose the software, but they also wipe all your personnal and private info stored. So I guess it was stolen, but at least you won't see your private pics on the internet.