Community-based crime-fighting Web site eblockwatch has launched an application that will allow BlackBerry users to trace their phones after they have been stolen.
The application, launched on Friday, was developed by a South African and is exclusive to eblockwatch, says Web site founder Andre Snyman. He says the tool is called 'Superhero Wagter', because it is a “digital watch dog”.
Snyman explains that South Africans can register their BlackBerries on the eblockwatch Web site, download the application and subscribe to the service for R39 a month. When a smartphone, which is linked to the system, is stolen, it can be tracked through Google Earth and located.
Snyman explains that the application is not SIM card-dependent, but sends out a signal providing GPS coordinates, which allows the phone to be tracked to within a few metres. He adds that once the police are physically within a few metres of the phone, the device can be activated to ring.
Wagter has been tested for “some time”, says Snyman, and is now ready to be used. BlackBerry users can also track their phones through the Web site, he adds.
Eblockwatch, which was launched about a decade ago, enables people to interact and provide information about suspected criminal activity on its Web site, which is then shared with the South African Police Service and community members through e-mail and SMS.
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