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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Limpag: Stolen phone calls home
By Max T. Limpag
Celltalk
Anti-theft phone. Samsung India, according to the TechTree.com website, has launched a phone with an “anti-theft mobile tracker.” The phone, the Samsung Hero, also has a built in SOS messaging system to help users sensing trouble.
What’s great about the phone’s anti-theft system is that when the unit is stolen and the mobile number is replaced, the phone will then send a text message to two pre-selected numbers, giving them the new number without the current user’s knowledge.
With this data, you can then call the authorities and, with the help of telcos, plot the location of the person holding the stolen phone.
I’m sure that such a system will help crack the rising problem of stolen phones. I hope more manufacturers incorporate this system in their units.
With Samsung Hero, users can also send help messages if they sense danger by pressing the C button four times. The handset then sends an SOS message to 10 pre-selected numbers. When the recipient of the message calls the phone, the handset automatically takes the call.
The current anti-theft system in the country is weak. It’s based on the blocking of phones based on its IMEI, a unique serial number identifying handsets. The problem with this is that we have a lot of shops that change IMEI for a fee. The protection is, thus, rendered useless.
MOTOROLA + YAHOO. Motorola and Yahoo have signed a deal for the phone manufacturer to preload Yahoo’s e-mail, search, address book and local search features in its handsets starting next year.
The Internet pioneer has been active in pushing its Yahoo Go for Mobile to handset makers. Yahoo Go (go.yahoo.com/mobile) allows cell phone users to use Yahoo Mail and Search in their cell phones.
Early this year, Yahoo signed a similar deal with Nokia.
DROP IN MMS PRICES. The recent decision by Smart to cut the price of sending multi-media messages to P1, if within the Smart network, and P2, for other networks is great for consumers.
I’ve gotten feedback that as a response to the price cut, a lot of users have been sending more and more MMS messages.
These messages aren’t just your typical “pa-cute” MMS, some are work-related, like sending a photo of field work updates to the head office.
But of course, you also see a rise in meaningless (to those who don’t get it) messages. You’d have crazy animated graphics being forwarded to multi-media phone after multi-media phone. Some are funny, others are corny while a few are just plain weird.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 25, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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