Thieves hunting for iPhones but users can fight back
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 06 July 2009, 14:51 IST   |    4 Comments
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Thieves hunting for iPhones but users can fight back
Bangalore: The iPhones and other smart phones have recently caught more attention of the thieves, the main attraction being the high cost and demand in market for these phones. In a bid to avoid the growing insecurity, the smartphone companies are coming up with smart technology to help users fight theft. One of the companies has installed software that allows user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, which is designed for iPhones, allows user to track down the phone's location. In cities like New York, even though petty crimes rate has come down but still there has been many recent headlines reporting the theft of expensive gadgets like Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's Sidekick. Users are not only worried about the phone but also about information inside the phone. A phone might have email, passwords, bank information and other such important things. "When we have seen spikes in thefts, a significant portion has to do with highly desirable products. In the last couple of years it's been iPods, Sidekicks, iPhones," said Paul Browne, New York Police spokesman to Reuters. Browne further added that most of these muggings involve teenagers robbing other teenagers and take place on subways in the afternoon after schools get out. New technology helps smart phone users to even erase the data if their phone gets stolen. Even though the idea of tracing one's phone can be exciting but it has its own risk as well. Besides, many of these expensive phones come with insurance. "Obviously, there's some excitement about tracing the phone but I have insurance. After data has been wiped clean, the iPhone is just a brick," said Joshua Deutch, a freelance IT consultant to Reuters. Many users feel that data is important while many feel that with the help of backup options available in almost all smart phones, losing data is not that big problem.

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