Birkett Enterprise Ltd

I just noticed that there is an interesting review of Phonelocator Periodic 0.9 by Kevin Sharp on the Nokia Ovi blog

Bruce Hatton has successfully used Phonelocator Periodic 0.9 to recover his daughters stolen E71 in Nambia. “Setting the Buddy Number was crucial in regaining the phone”, said Lesotho born Bruce.

The phone was stolen at 7:00PM on Jan 6. Bruce was able to track it to a point in a Windhoek suburb called Khomasdal. Despite the limited GPS accuracy of version 0.9 Bruce was able to place the phone within 3 houses on each side of the street. (The GPS accuracy has been improved in version 1.0)

At about 8.30 PM the thief swapped SIM cards which is when Bruce received the SMS notification. (Bruce’s number was set as the buddy number on his daughters phone) The SIM card inserted was not GPRS enabled, which prevented further location updates from being sent. Despite this setback Bruce took the last know location of the phone and it’s new number to the Nambian police. They obtained the new numbers telephone logs from the mobile operator, MTC. The police then questioned some people who had called the new number who revealed the identity of the theif.

Bruce concluded, “The bottom line is that the Geo-locating function was useful up to a point, but it was the buddy number, phone IMEI and MTC logs which were the prime reasons in locating the phone.”

Phonelocator Periodic version 1.0.37 is now available on the Ovi store. This release fixes an issue that prevented the application starting on Brazilian Portuguese phones.

It has been reported that the Phonelocator Periodic app (version 1.0.34) won’t start on Brazilian Portuguese language phones.

If you’ve experienced this problem please email your phone’s IMEI number to contactus@phonelocator.mobi (dial *#06# to see the IMEI)

The problem was identified early 17/01/2011.  A fix was submitted to the Nokia Ovi store 18/01/2011 and will be available after completing the Ovi store’s QA process.

Thanks to Daniel Descalzo for reporting this issue and helping to test the fix.

Phonelocator 1.0 is now available on the Nokia Ovi store. The 1.0 release adds some great new features:

Lost phone alarm

The loud lost phone alarm is activated by sending an SMS message to the phone. Great for finding your phone even when it’s in silent mode!

Passcode protected uninstall

Prevent unuthorized persons from removing the app form the phone. Extremly useful to stop your kids removing the app or if your phone is stolen.

Hidden trigger messages

Trigger location updates without SMS messages appearing in the phone’s inbox. A fantastic feature if your phone is stolen.

Better GPS accuracy

The GPS session is held open longer before sending updates to improve GPS accuracy.

More positioning methods

Support for the phone’s built in Wi-Fi and Network positioning methods – handy for urban environments where GPS does not work.

Phonelocator Periodic is available here.

It costs $3 / €3 / £3 in most jurisdictions. Phonelocator Periodic 0.9 and access to the Phonelocator Periodic web site remain free.