BlackBerry Protect beta opens

Research In Motion (RIM) has opened up its BlackBerry Protect beta, a service that helps users to remotely protect personal information on lost or stolen phones, reports ZDNet.

The BlackBerry Protect service, previously only available to BlackBerry Beta Zone members, includes GPS and cell tower tracking, password locking, extra-loud rings to find the phone, and secure wiping of the phone.

It also has wireless backup, a custom message display, and the capability to wirelessly restore that backed-up data to a new phone.

Cnet says to accomplish these tasks, BlackBerry Protect consists of software that can be download to the smartphones and a Web dashboard that users can captain if something goes wrong.

The service mimics likes of Microsoft's My Phone and Apple's MobileMe, the publication says.

According to PC World, following a blog post revealing the open beta, a few people wrote about their disappointment that the service is not available to those who connect through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

Used by enterprises, the BES allows IT administrators to enforce security policies and perform functions including remote wipe.

RIM has not responded to questions about the availability of BlackBerry Protect for BES users, the publication says.