We all have our favorite security app on our smartphones. This is the software that we load onto our handsets that have the ability to remotely wipe, track, and backup the device should it be lost or stolen. A lot of these applications come in both free and premium versions depending on whatever your particular need is, for example I use the free version of “Lookout” because it suits what I want it to do just fine.
Up until now the decision as to which of these applications would be installed on a particular phone was completely up to the consumer as an add on service. One of the major flaws with this model is that the software could possibly be removed by the scumbag who ripped you off, but a new collaboration between a manufacturer and a developer is hoping to change that.
Yesterday at the CTIA 2013 trade show in Las Vegas Nevada, Absolute Software, who are the creators of Lojack for Laptops, announced a new product named (you guessed it) Lojack for Android smartphones. This application offers all of the standard features we have come to expect like photo backups, remote wiping, locking, deleting, etc. but it has a few added twists.
One unique thing about this software is that it will only be initially be available on the Samsung Galaxy S IV. The reason for this exclusivity is that through a collaboration between the two companies Lojack for Android smartphones will be embedded into the Galaxy S IV’s firmware. This new approach is big because should someone try to wipe your smartphone clean the Lojack software will still be active on the device.
This service obviously doesn’t come free though but the good news is that you do get what you pay for. Lojack for Android smartphones is being sold as a subscription service at between one and four years for $29.99 per. One of the nicer perks that you get for your money is that once a device is reported lost or stolen, the company will send out their team of “recovery specialists” in an attempt to get the phone back.
Currently this service has a tentative release date of “early summer”, so it is a safe bet that sometime in the next month or so we will get our first opportunity to see Samsung’s latest “Knox” security addition in action.