Free "Find my BlackBerry" app now available

BlackBerry users can now get an iPhone-style "Find my BlackBerry" app free of charge.

BlackBerry Protect is a free application from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, and allows users to wirelessly backup, restore and locate their BlackBerry.

If you lose your handset, you can log in to a website and remotely wipe the contents of the BlackBerry, lock it, activate a "lost and found" home screen, show its location on a map, activate the loudest ringer setting, and backup its contents.

You can also automatically backup contacts, calendar, memos, tasks, browser bookmarks, and text messages on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis in case you lose your BlackBerry.

If you suspect the BlackBerry is not lost but misplaced (under a hotel room bed, for example) you can use the remote loud ringer option to find it -- even if you lost it while it was in silent mode.

The BlackBerry Protect app is only available to Blackberry consumer users, on a "BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS)" plan.

Corporate BlackBerry users linked up to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) already have many of the options available through their IT team.

BlackBerry Protect is a free download from the "Test Center" category on BlackBerry App World. (It's in the "test center" because officially, the app is still in testing and may have some bugs remaining.)

You have to have a BlackBerry running BlackBerry OS software 4.6 or higher. You can check what your BlackBerry's version is by going to Options > About, and looking for the version number before the word "Platform". For example, if it says, 4.5.0.37 (Platform 2.7.0.55) then your BlackBerry is running OS 4.5.

BlackBerry handsets newer than the BlackBerry Bold 9000 model are generally all running OS 4.6 or above.

danwarne