Recovery of lost phones and laptops goes hi-tech
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By Macharia Kamau Not only did you part with thousands of shillings to buy your mobile phone, but you also invested in it emotionally. And thanks to its unique features, the phone has enabled you to move with your office. Because you no longer have to carry your laptop to stay in touch with the office or reply to clients’ mail. Your social life too centres around it. But the misfortune strikes — you lose the gadget. To help recover lost phones, East African Data Handlers has launched a service to track lost phones as well as laptops. Ujanja Mobile Track will help owners of smart phones track who is using them if they are reported stolen or lost. "After the tracking software is installed, our subscribers register two preferred numbers, where text messages can be sent when the stolen phone is in use," said Mr George Njoroge managing director of East African Data Handlers. Using satellite tracking, subscribers of the service will be able to track their stolen gadgets from any part of the globe. If a stolen phone — installed with the software — detects a new SIM card, it automatically sends a message to the preferred numbers. The message shows the new number and the serial number of the new SIM as well as the location. "One can then call the person and tell them that they are using a stolen phone or use the police to expedite recovery," he said. Internet protocol For laptops, an email is sent to as preferred e-mail address giving the details of the new user once they connect the gadget to the Internet. "One will receive an email showing the public Internet protocol (IP) address of the person using it," said Njoroge. Using Google Maps, the location of a lost phone and laptop can be identified and with the help of authorities, the gadgets can be recovered. Upon recovery of a laptop, the company can retrieve the data in case the ‘new owner’ had formatted the hard disk. "Many users concerned about the data than the laptop," he said. The system, however, can only identify the location but the onerous task would be to recovery the gadget. "The biggest challenge is not tracking the location of the stolen gadgets but recovery," he said. The tracking software is downloaded from the Internet. This means a phone should be blue tooth, infrared or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhanced to able to connect to the Internet.