Loopt announced a major update for its free application for BlackBerry at the BlackBerry Developer Conference. Loopt connects users to the most relevant places and people nearby using background location updating. This new version better enhances a user’s ability to experience more around them by who’s around, what’s going on and where.

From the release:

Loopt now offers dynamically-generated, relevant local content about places and events from some of the best sources on the Web to help users meet up with nearby friends, explore new places to grab food, and find local events happening now.  Feature highlights include:

·    Discover the best places and events, including those rated highly by your friends on Pulse

·    See where your friends are on maps – view their latest updates listed in real-time and comment on them

·    Check-in to instantly share your updates with friends – easily update Facebook and Twitter with your photos and places in one Loopt check-in

·    Browse and rate local places and events – peruse detailed information from Zagat, Citysearch, and the Loopt community

·    Save money through special offers from nearby retailers with local coupons

Loopt is proud to partner with Zagat, the world’s leading provider of consumer-survey based information.  Zagat’s quality, trusted information is based on the collective experiences of thousands of avid consumers.

So I decided to find out just what Loopt is and what I can do with it. I downloaded it from their website and it installed quickly. It installs a cute little blue circle icon with two white circles intertwined, like a blue face with white oogly googly eyes. Logging in, you are able to create your account using your cell phone number. After it’s all set up. On the left side there are six buttons going down. Your main screen displays first in the center. You have a link to link to Twitter and Facebook. The next allows you to change your email, the next to do location sharing. This is nice as you can share, or hide from some or all of your friends. Next is Location refresh, and last My Alerts. Those you can set to be alerted to on by sms, email, or both.

Using the side buttons you have the option to check in with Loopt, Facebook, and Twitter. The next is Discover and this is where you can find hot events nearby and Hot places nearby which is restaurants. If you go to search you can find Bars, Coffee, Food, Gas and Events: all the ways we gather and socialize. Next is Friends. Here you can add friends, find friends, view on the map and see you and your friends. Lately is next, showing what you and your friends have updated today. Settings is the first screen you saw by default to change your settings and how you connect.

I have to admit, this is nice. I was alerted by text to the new friend request. It was easy to accept and message. You can see your friends on the map, and if you leave it running in the background, the location will update for you. I found it easy to use, great way to keep in touch, perfect to enhance social networking on your BlackBerry.

Loopt is available for the Curve 8900, Bold 9000, and the BlackBerry Tour 9630. You have to try this, it’s free, great for keeping track of the location of your friends, and what’s going on in your location. And what’s even nicer, the app is available to other platforms as well, so it’s possible to keep in touch with your friends even if they have a Droid. So don’t wait to be thrown for a loop, get Loopt and stay in the loop.

Grab your free copy of Loopt from here >

Loopt is also available on BlackBerry App  World here >

For more information, read more on Loopt here >

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Remember a few months ago we gave an overview of SMobile Parental Control? In light of the Etisalat incident and the concerns of parents, we felt that a full review of SMobile Systems Parental Control would be a great way for us to experience it first hand and enlighten our readers.

SMobile Systems is a security company based in Columbus, Ohio. What makes them different is that they are the leading provider of security solutions for mobile phones. Their software for consumers is varied and includes SMobile VirusGuard for the BlackBerry at $19.99 a year, SMobile Anti-Theft and Identity Protection (with Remote Lock, Wipe, Backup  and Restore with GPS tracking) for $29.99 a year, SMobile Parental Controls and Monitoring for $29.99 a year, SMobile Security Shield Standard Edition (Point Guard Anti-Spam, Call Filtering, Theft Protection with the Remote Lock, Wipe, and Backup, GPS locator, Anti-Virus) for $34.99 a year, and SMobile Security Shield Professional Edition (The Standard Edition plus a firewall) for $39.99 a year.

The Product we are focusing on this review is the SMobile Security Shield Parental Control Edition.  It contains the following: Email and Text Message Monitoring, Call Monitoring, GPS Locate, Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware, View Contacts, a Monitoring Dashboard, Application Monitoring, and the Lock, Wipe, Backup and Restore. All this for merely $29.99 a year. Now reasons for the software are a given. We live in a world that we must protect our children. It’s not as it was back when we were growing up, and our parents weren’t blessed with the technology we have the access to today. In light of the sexting, child predators, and other worse possible scenarios, imagine being able to arm your family with the peace of mind to monitor it all and make sure your precious child’s safety is held in top priority. And all you need is their cellphone and your pc. SMobile created just the answer and has made it available for parents inexpensively.

For the description of the product, this is what it states:

“SMobile Security Shield Parental Control Edition is the first complete suite of security software applications to protect mobile devices and their pre-adult users from:

By utilizing the innovative Parental Control Dashboard, parents can easily and effectively gain insight into their children’s mobile activities, as well as offering protection from the effects of device loss or theft. Security Shield software communicates with the dashboard server, and also provides an additional level of protection:

• Antivirus and anti-malware scanning, for automatic up-to-the- minute protection from the latest mobile threats
• Anti-spam features for filtering of calls and Text Message messages, via sender number

SMobile Security Shield Parental Control Edition for feature phones such as the Rant, Envy II, Razor, the Juke and many others will be available for purchase in early Summer, 2009.”

When a purchase is made, the builds are available for direct download. The user purchases the product and then sent an email which instructs the customer to visit www.smdownload.com from their browser to download the app for their device. I downloaded and installed the application portion of it on my BlackBerry Tour 9630. It would be as if I were installing it to my child’s phone, and I would have access to it from my pc after installing it.  It installed rather quickly. The app went into my download folder as a green x with swollen ends. When you click on it, it will ask for your username and password. It displays the green x and SMobile Systems Security Shield. On a white screen you have the Virus Guard displayed, Monitor and Control, and Backup and Restore. When you click on the Virus Guard, options of Virus Guard, Update Now, Update Log, Settings, Support Info, Help, and About appear.

Clicking Virus Guard will show the Monitor Status, Last updated, and the License Expiration. Update Log shows update history, Settings show how often to do Auto-Update Frequency and your choices are one hour up to never. I had to set my MDS to off for it to work, License Key, Server, Phone number it is used on (1 and area code, prefix and number), User name and password in stars. Support Info displays the MDS which is off (unless you’re on the BES), License Key, Server, Phone Number, User, IMEI, and Device PIN. Help Displays the Overview of the product as what it does and how it updates. About displays Security Shield V8.3.7, @ 2009, SMobile Systems and the website. It states A mobile security solution providing essential anti-virus and anti-malware protection. This runs in the background.

Monitor and Control shows SMS: hopefully enabled, Voice Enabled, Email Enabled, Picture Enabled, Log File Size, and Even Count and the Last Posted Date and time. Clicking Backup and Restore shows the last backup and the last restore.

The first thing of course I did was update it to it’s current updates. Then noticed how it uses very little energy on the phone. Now here’s where it gets fun. The Parental Control Dashboard that you have access to online. First you register the product on your phone, then you go online and set up your login for the Dashboard. You also have access to the Lock, Wipe, Backup, Restore and GPS locate.

The Parental Control Dashboard is nothing short of high tech amazing. When you log in there are the following access from the phone: Home, Reports, Account Settings, Picture Viewer, and Glossary. In Home you have Messages, Applications, Contacts, Locations, Send Commands, and History. In the Messages, there are full explanations of incoming and outgoing. You can view each and every email and text IN ITS ENTIRETY. The full message. From whom and what everything written is, with date and time included. In the Reports, you can look up certain reports by recipient, sender, message type, time and dates. You can set alerts to be notified if certain messages are considered potentially harmful. In Account Settings  you can change the account management as to the email and phone number of the manager. You can also decide in Handset Management what monitoring is enabled and how large or small log event and size are. In Picture Viewer, you are able to see all pics sent and all pics taken with the phone. This includes all vehicles of communication from email and text to the messengers themselves. In Send Commands, you have the ability to Lock the Handset, Unlock the Handset, Wipe the Handset, Back Up the Handset, Locate the Handset, and Send All Messages. This now gives you the ability to lock it up if there’s reason, or if it’s stolen. Unlock at will, and wipe and backup in case it’s stolen. Now here’s a really helpful asset. The Glossary, which has all the latest text and messaging acronomys and lingo you could ever want to know. So if you’re reading the text and can’t understand them? Don’t worry, the Glossary is there as your decipher tool, so you have your very own texting Rosetta stone.

So my experience with it, extremely impressed. It’s light on the phone, and I love the fact you can see everything and have the ability to be the parent and the guardian. No error messages, which made my experience even better. The online Dashboards are extremely easy to use. If you don’t have children of age for this product, I would highly recommend one of the SMobile Security Shield software. It’s light, works great and is good to have just in case. For the software, I definitely rate it the highest. And for the dashboards, they are very easy to navigate, and easy to understand and read. Support is very good, customer service is fast to address any issues, a big concern to me, also rated high. The program I have to admit, exceeded my expectations. I was shocked to see the picture and text content come in. I like that third party apps are viewable as well. While the review was aimed at the BlackBerry phone, if you’re child has a different phone, the product can still be installed and used, just make sure that it is available for the handset. This is the best comprehensive security software in my opinion that I have seen yet to monitor your child and protect your child, your child’s information, and the phone.

You can purchase your copy of the SMobile Security Shield Parental Control Edition by SMobile for $29.99 a year here >

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Origin8 Technologies has released a safety app for your BlackBerry, iWitness v1.00, which is something to assure you like American Express since you never leave without your BlackBerry. It brings with it GPS enabled emergency alert and reporting tools. It’s a great app for oneself or one’s child going to college or on a trip.

From the look you can pretend your on a call, alert quickly, have medical or security emergency alerts, I’m really taken with the possibilities. Great for the spouse or yourself who’s diabetic, your daughter or son going off to college or on a trip, or for you if you just want that assurance and safety, you never know. Be prepared and have that peace of mind.

Features included are:

You can download a copy of iWitness v1.00 by Origin8 Technologies  for only $2.99 from the BlackBerry Sync Store >

Compatible with OS: 4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6. 4.7

Compatible with BlackBerry handsets: 71xx series, 81xx Pearl series, 83xx Curve Series,  87xx series, 8800, 88xx World series, 8220 (Pearl Flip), 8350i (Curve), 8520 (Curve), 8530 (Curve), 8900 (Curve), 9000 (Bold), 9020 (Onyx),
9630 (Tour), Storm

[via: BlackBerry Cool]

Going with the theme today of Security Sunday, this review is on the SmrtGuard-Your Smart Phone Guardian by Smrt Guard. SmrtGuard is software security to protect your phone and your information. Remember, movie stars should be examples, and as Kevin Bacon and Paris Hilton have so kindly taught us: Don’t let this happen to you.

So what is SmrtGuard and what does it mean to you? Well, SmrtGuard is a security software program that is designed to protect your phone and your information. You’re able to track your BlackBerry with no GPS required. You are able to fully wipe sensitive data on the BlackBerry from where you are. You can back up all your sensitive data which includes: PIMs; call logs; emails and more. You can back up and restore your personal data (you might want to do that every so often, so when you do lose your BlackBerry, and have to wipe it, that you have those things you want to save on hand). The data can be accessed through the SmrtGuard web portal. You can use audio ping to locate your phone, even if it’s on mute.

With SmrtGuard, you are able to:

The Personal Guardian will allow you to send a distress SMS/Email/Call with a single button push. The SimCard Guardian alerts users that an unregistered Sim card being used in the phone. You can use it to remotely lock the phone or use it to remotely listen to the phone’s surroundings.

I received the product and began to install. The first step when installing this product is to register and activate the account online from your pc. Step two is to install the program on the phone and activate. For best results, they advise using the BlackBerry native email account from your phone, this is the one your carrier gives you free with your BlackBerry. I was really excited. The controls on the phone are really easy to use. A few extra controls on the phone are setting up the Personal Guardian or SIMs Card Guardian. The Personal Guardian allows you to set a button that you hold for a few seconds and it calls an emergency contact. It’s your own 911.

So while looking at the controls on the phone, there were several options on the phone besides the Personal Guardian. On the phone you can set up the Backup options and how often. You can set up your Restore options, Your Data options, and Follow Me. With Backup you can choose Contacts, Memos, Tasks, Events, Call Logs, and Emails. With Restore you can choose the same as above. Your Data shows how man Memos, Tasks, Contacts, Events, Call Log Counts, Emails, and File Counts you have on your handheld. Follow Me you can choose on foot or in vehicle. In a Vehicle it will keep track of you every three minutes and on foot it will keep track every five minutes. You can stop follow from the phone as well. In Personal Guardian you can have the phone call a contact or 911 and email another if you hold the “panic” button.

The Dashboard has so much available to you. In the Dashboard you have a map. Now they do let you know it is not 100% accurate so I cannot fault them for the map not being on target. In fact, it was quite off. The map is powered by Google Maps. You have the options Track My BB, Stop Tracking, Self-Destruct, Self-Destruct Test, Remote Listen, Locate My BB, Audio Ping, and Lock Device. With Track My BB, it will track the BlackBerry every five minutes. It will stop when you stop. Locate My BB will only check once and show the location on the map. In this you have the option to show location as to how many hours. By default it is set to 24 hours. Audio Ping is to help you find your phone. It will make a noise till it is turned off. The Self-Destruct Test will do a practice run but will not destroy any data, unlike the actual Self-Destruct will. You can also allow a “loved-one” to track you, giving them piece of mind, with Loved-One Tracker . The only tab they will be able to view after you set it up is the Tracker. You can also register your spouse’s and child’s BlackBerry with the SmrtGuard so that you can track them as well. I tested the many features and was impressed. Self Destruct Test was pretty neat, and of course I didn’t do the actual Self Destruct. Remote Listen has the phone call a handset of your choice, so you can listen to the phone. There could be several ways to use this feature. Audio Ping works too. Now the Lock Device locks the phone, but this is where you would want it to be password protected. Unlike the ROblock, the lock can be unlocked with the star and green button if you don’t have it password protected. There’s no place for a unlocking the phone on the Dashboard manually. From the Dashboard you are able to view: Dashboard, Account, Contacts, To Do, Memos, Call Logs, Events and Mail. I love the idea of wiping your data, especially from your Micro SD card. It’s good to know, although I love my family, my movies (I’d hate to see my Keanu Movies get wiped), and my music, I don’t have to worry about someone having the pictures of my daughters and family or their phone numbers and addresses as well. It gives me less to worry about.

So in my opinion, is there a need for this program? Of course, now at days you can never have too much protection. I mean, don’t ever say it won’t happen to you. It can happen to the best of us. And your BlackBerry is your sidekick, take care of it and your information.

For Customer Service, SmrtGuard is very quick to answer emails and questions, I never waited long for a response. I felt assured that any issues would be addressed quickly.

The map I wasn’t too thrilled about but they did say it wasn’t perfect. I also know that my carrier locks the GPS on my phone to third parties, so it wasn’t too surprising for me that it didn’t get a precise location. The manual lock from the PC would be a neat touch, but make sure through your Options>Security Options>General Options that you enable password protection and you will have no worries.

Pros: The pros are the self-destruct, the Personal Guardian, the audio ping, the listening in option, and choosing what to back up. It’s easy and allows you to track your phone, let others track you, and allow yourself to track others. Nice touch.

Cons: The map with non GPS enabled phones, having to have a password secured phone, and that was it.

If you are interested in the SmrtGuard v1.51, you’re in luck. We have it in the BlackBerry Sync Store and it’s available in three different ways: Monthly for $3.99; Bi-Annual for $22.99; and Annual for $44.99.

Grab a copy of SmrtGuard V1.51 today from the BlackBerry Sync Store >

Compatible BlackBerry handsets: 7130c, 7130e, 7130g, 7130v, 8100 (Pearl), 8110 (Pearl), 8120 (Pearl), 8130 (Pearl), 8220 (Pearl Flip), 8300 (Curve), 8310 (Curve), 8320 (Curve), 8330 (Curve), 8350i (Curve), 8700c, 8700f, 8700g, 8700r, 8700v, 8703e, 8705g, 8707g, 8707h, 8707v, 8800, 8820, 8830, 8900 (Curve), 9000 (Bold), Curve, Pearl, Storm

Compatible OS: 4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

There you go! CrackBerry has just completed the first hands-on of the unreleased BlackBerry code-named Onyx. The Onyx has been talked about for a few months now. It’s NOT the touchscreen QWERTY BlackBerry, but rather a more traditional device featuring a 3G radio with Wi-Fi, GPS, and 3.2 megapixel camera. Its expected that this model may actually become part of the Tour family joining the CDMA 9630.

Here is a list of known features:

• 3G device – GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS (Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
• 480 by 360 display, beveled edges
• 256 megabytes of internal memory (same as Curve 8900, 8520)
• 1550mAh M-S1 battery (same as Bold)
• 3.2 megapixel camera, with flash and auto focus
• GPS and Wi-Fi

At this time the processor speed isn’t exactly known but its expected to be a little faster than the Bold’s 624MHz one. No ETA as to when this device will be released, but stay tuned for more details coming within the next little bit.

I was browsing the site today when I noticed one of the Google ads on this site was showing the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8210. Correct me if I’m wrong but has the 8210 officially been released yet? When clicking the link it took me to BlackBerry.com and only shows the 8220 and 8230 available. Could it be a typo or a sign that RIM is getting ready to launch the GPS enabled Pearl Flip 8210?

Update: After running a google search for “BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8210″ I found another ad at the top of Google’s search for the 8210. Very weird.

Garmin has announced a new "Lifetime" subscription for your BlackBerry using their GPS navigation software. It sounds like a great idea but keep in mind the "lifetime" subscription is only for the life on the BlackBerry device you register with it. However Garmin offers this lifetime subscription for only $99.99 USD. You can get Garmin's software right here.

According to a post found on BerryReview, Viral Electronics is saying AT&T has released new mail-in rebates which list the BlackBerry 8110. The rebate is for $50 off the price of the 8110. In case your don't know a whole lot about the 8110 it's the GPS packing, Wi-Fi lacking next generation Pearl with a 2.0 megapixel camera. Unfortunately no one posted a scan of the rebate yet…

UPDATE: BGR got their hands on a copy of the rebate and here it is: