There are a few services out there that will help you find a lost or stolen device (SmrtGuard, BlackBerry Protect, BerrySnooper). The question is: how effective are these services at finding your device? If your BlackBerry is anywhere that might not have perfect reception, you’re going to have a hard time locating it. Take the above screenshot for example. This was taken with BlackBerry Protect enabled on my Torch and my device was located at the corner of York and Cumberland, not even within the red circle that BlackBerry Protect says it is. Now, if I couldn’t find my BlackBerry and I left it at a bar, I could use the service to narrow down whether my device was at said bar or if it was at my house or office. While the exact location isn’t always necessary, you have to wonder how useful this particular features really is. So we’re asking the reader, have you ever recovered a lost or stolen device with the help of a location tracking service? Hit the poll after the jump. Continue reading ‘Poll: Have You Ever Used Location to Find a Lost or Stolen Device?’
BlackBerry Messenger had yet another chain letter circulating and while it was called “spam” when it we posted it, it’s worth mentioning that it’s a simple chain letter that had no help spreading other than by BlackBerry users themselves. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but it does bring to light a grievance about BBM that I think many users can relate to: the need to update BBM’s broadcast feature.
I’ve had only one or two good experiences with BBM’s broadcast feature. This is compared to the thirty or so times that I’ve been distracted and annoyed by someone on my contact list broadcasting a message about something I could care less about. Chain letters and mass messages have been happening since the early days of email, but getting one on your BlackBerry is far more annoying.
The Beta Zone has a requested feature to allow you to never receive broadcasted messages. But is this enough?
So here’s the poll, what do you think of BBM’s broadcast feature?
