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Among my greatest passions in life are smartphones and personal security. I know right; I’m geeky and paranoid. I spent my spare time in the past two weeks considering ways that a person’s cell phone can be utilized in personal security. I’m not referring to the stun gun cell phones or other fake phone weapons on the market. I’m talking about the thousands of Americans walking around with Blackberrys, iPhones, Google Phones, etc who need to eliminate risk of becoming a victim of a crime or scam. Here are my 7 most applicable (not including hand to hand cell phone combat) tips:

1. If you are lost or kidnapped: Modern smart phones come GPS enabled. For little to no cost you can download and install software onto your phone that will allow authorities or loved ones to log in to a 3^rd party website to track your phone. Most of these services also include options for backing up data from the phone, remote wiping the memory and locking the device to prevent calls. In addition to helping you track down your lost or stolen phone it could potentially help authorities track you down if you become lost or stolen and your phone is on you or your attacker. Even if your phone is not GPS enabled authorities are able to triangulate your position based on the GPRS signal from the cell phone towers. This can often pinpoint your location within a 50 ft radius. If you are in a boat that is capsizing, put your phone in a plastic bag to keep it dry, and blow air into the bag before sealing it to be sure it floats. This will help rescuers find your location in an emergency. Mobile Security Software Suggestions: (iPhone) (Android) (BlackBerry) (WindowsMobile) (Nokia Symbian)
2. In a world of viruses and hackers you may wonder where you should be keeping your most private and sensitive data. Online servers or other “password vault” services are vulnerable and your computer is just as weak to crashes as viruses and hacks. The answer is on your smart phone’s SD memory card. Cell phones are virtually impossible to hack from a remote internet connection. As long as you keep your Bluetooth turned off, or at least make your phone “Not Discoverable” you remain safe from any local hackers too. Even if you break or damage your phone, the memory card will not be damaged easily and even dropping your phone in water will not cause you to lose any data. Are you afraid you will lose your phone? No problem if you are employing one of the programs mentioned above. Just remotely backup your data and then wipe the memory device.
3. ICE: EMTs and hospital staff across the nation are being trained to look in the address book of a victim’s cell phone for an emergency contact. You are advised to create a new contact in your address book under the name of ICE which is an acronym for In Case of Emergency. This empowers emergency medical technicians to contact a loved one to ask about allergies to medicines or to simply inform them of your injury or accident.
4. Cell Phone users are less likely to be victims of random attack. Next time you find yourself in a quiet parking lot or in a dark alley just pull out your cell phone and call someone. If they don’t answer, pretend that they did and begin a fake conversation with their voice-mail. Potential attackers are likely to avoid people who are on the phone since the potential victim could easily describe the assailant or at least alert the 3^rd party to the action. What should you talk about? Your location and your surroundings. Also indicate that you are on your way to meet with someone else. Example: “Yeah I just came out of the building on the south side. Where are you meeting me? I don’t see you yet, how far away are you?
5. Ever had a phone conversation that you wish you had recorded? Use your phone. Most phones have the option to record voice notes and many smart phones have 3^rd party software that will even allow you to record phone calls. Next time you are in a debate with your boss or an argument with your ex spouse… record it. Without drawing any attention turn on the recording feature on your phone and set your phone down on a surface where the microphone will be between you and the other person. Be aware that each state has different laws that govern your right to record conversations with or without the consent of all parties.
6. Having a cell phone means having constant access to a digital camera. Use it. Next time you are involved in or witness to a traffic accident use your phone to take pictures of all the damage and the license plates of the cars involved. Other good times to take pictures include when you meet someone for the first time, when driving somewhere for the first time (landmarks), or when you rent a car or check into a hotel room (existing damages).
7. Of course a cell phone can be used to call 911 from anywhere. Any cell phone can dial 911 even without having been active on a current plan. The international universal mobile emergency number is 112. Keep your old cell phone in the trunk of your car along with a charger to use in case of an emergency when your own phone is dead or unavailable. Purchase a “crank” cell phone charger that will power your emergency phone with a little muscle work. This would be especially useful if someone threw you in your own truck and left you there. Especially seek out an emergency phone with CDMA service. CDMA technology has much wider coverage in remote areas outside of the city. The biggest CDMA wireless carriers in the US are Verizon and Sprint.

Ok, so people often act shocked when they find out that I had a macbook and sold it to switch back to a PC, or that I had an ipod but dumped it when I got my android phone. While most people still use PCs in general, the public is under the impression that when anyone switches to Mac there is no going back. Furthermore it is accepted as conventional wisdom that the iPod and the iPhone are the very best of MP3 players and Smartphones. I DON’T THINK SO, and therfore I am going to give it to you in a top 10 list of why I boycot the iPhone (and all the apple products really).

1. Carrier Exclusivity. I can’t think of a single reason why Apple would only market their iPhone on AT&T’s wireless network, expect that AT&T must be paying them A LOT of money. Recent surveys confirm that AT&T has the lowest satisfaction among consumers in 17 of the 24 cities surveyed so Apple should be smart enough to realize that they stand to make a lot more money by opening up their product to as many different carriers as possible but no…. they are still stuck on the network with the least 3G coverage in the nation and while the phone can be unlocked, it remains a GSM device that could only be used on T-Mobile.
2. Manufacturer Exclusivity. Apple is the only company making iPhones. Your initial reaction… DUH, but stop and think about it. How many different manufactures make Windows Mobile devices or Android Devices? THEY ALL DO! HTC, Samsung, Motorola, etc. Microsoft & Google (the makers of Windows Mobile and Android) are smart enough to know that the more manufactures making devices that utilize their software platform the better. It means for higher competition which will improve the quality of the hardware and lower the end cost to the consumer.
3. Closed Source. Apple may open their developer’s API up to the public so that anyone can design iPhone apps but there is still no way to modify the actual platform. This is the same difference between Mozilla’s Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that makes Firefox such a winner in the browser competition. Open Source platforms allow for billions of geeks around the globe to improve upon the basic ideas. This not only makes for a better end product for all consumers but it also means less time and expense on the end of the original designer in improving their product. So why doesn’t Apple open their iPhone platform? Control… fear of not having control which leads me to my next point.
4. Upgrade Driven. The most recent iPhone release here in the USA now allows for video recording. So, might I ask what additional hardware they had to include to make this possible? NONE! It would be as easy as releasing a software update to allow all the previous iPhones to also record video. If you can take still pictures than you already have all the hardware necessary. They don’t release the update because it would mean less sales of the newest iPhone. This strategy is at place in everything that they do with all Apple products. They are more concerned with milking you for every conceivable dime than they are with delivering the highest quality product they can and supporting it as technology changes. Don’t believe me yet… just take a look at all the versions of iPods and put them on a timeline with when they were released.
5. No Keyboard. Ok, so you are all saying that the virtual (on screen) keyboard is great and it just takes a little getting used to. I believe you but why not give users the choice? Both Android and Windows Mobile have devices available with both virtual and physical slide out keyboards. I’ve been in enough texting competitions to promise you that the physical keyboard will always be faster and more accurate. I do like having a virtual keyboard but please Apple… just give people the choice.
6. No Widgets. What are widgets? Widgets are on screen changing applications that you can “stick” to your home screen on other smartphone platforms. For example a widget may display the current weather info for your current location, a news feed, analytics data, sports scores, music playlists, task lists, and schedules. The iPhone will display the number of unread emails or sms messages but that is about as far as widget options go.
7. No Multi-Tasking. The iPhone is not capable of running several applications at once or running a program “in the background” with the exception of receiving emails, sms messages, and phone calls. Other smartphone platforms would allow you to be logged in to your favorite instant messaging program while at the same time browse a site online while checking your sports scores and weather data automatically every 30 minutes. With the iPhone when you exit an application it closes it. I admit that this keeps the iPhone running quickly without fear of freezing up but I just assume have the option to do many things at once.
8. Mobile Me. Most iPhone users think I’m crazy when I mention this as a huge drawback for me. Yes, Mobile Me is great. It always syncs/backs up all your contacts, calendar, documents, etc but here is the main problem… it costs money. Android phones do all of that for free with Google’s already proven and free services: Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Gmail, and Google Documents. Why pay for a service that should be included with an already over priced phone?
9. No Expandable Memory. Depending on the iPhone you purchase you may have a variety of different memory capacities and I admit that for normal users the included memory should be plenty enough however… you don’t have a choice. Any other smartphone platform that I am aware of would allow you to input expandable memory in the form of mini or micro SD cards but with the iPhone what you get is what you have.
10. No Spare or Replacement Battery. There is no way to open the iPhone and replace or swap out the battery. Because modern cell phones are capable of so much with the thousands of third party apps and fast internet browsing speeds the battery life tends to be low. This is no fault of the iPhone or any other smartphone platform. Rechargable battery technology simply hasn’t caught up with smartphone technology and that means phones don’t last all day anymore. That isn’t a problem if you have any phone in the world other than the iPhone. The iPhone will not allow you to swap out a spare battery or even replace your battery if it gets old and stops holding a full charge. Of course that probably won’t be a concern since you won’t have the phone for more than a year before Apple releases a new version that has features that you will want thus forcing you to buy the new model anyway.