Mobile Recovery Service launched by Verizon

everstar80

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Doesnt this sound weird that vzw is offering this just days after the warning issued about the problems with adobe flash and how some devices could crash. Not trying to have a conspiracy theory but it does seem a bit of a coincidence?
 

whiddles

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Even if the system crashes, doesn't google have everything backed up as well? Like app and contacts ect....
 

Luxferro

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I wonder how thorough they tested the contact wipe feature.

Contacts are tied to your gmail account. And when you delete a contact on your phone, it syncs with your gmail account, and is gone from there as well. Hopefully they just nuke the gmail account that your phone was setup with, then remove the contacts...
 

AlBundy

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Has anyone tried the locate function? I installed it on both my son's and my Droids. For both of them, it puts the phone at locations that are not even close to where they actually are. I'm sitting here looking at mine, and it tells me it's well over a mile away. The accuracy circle for mine says 3166 meters and my son's is 2503 meters. :icon_eek: Google maps works fine on both phones, and is very accurate. I was hoping to be able to use this if he lost his phone (kids do this too often), but guess an accuracy of 1.5 - 2 miles isn't going to help much.
 
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RETG

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The locate if lost and wipe feature are the two most important features offered for any type of software.

If you just misplace your phone and need it to ring a few times to find it, that is useful. If you lost it while in a park, in the desert, etc., the locate GPS funciton might help you locate it.

However, if your phone is stolen or lost a long way from home, a TOTAL wipe of the system is what is needed.

You will probably have a better chance of having your phone returned if you call the person, and give them the GPS coordinates or address where the phone is assumed to be by the software GPS locator, and ask them to return it.

Police will not go out and check door-to-door in a neighborhood to find your phone based on a GPS location from this software. I'm not sure if they would go to an exact address if you actually had one. And if they went and the person said no, they do not have it, the police are powerless to do a thing, unless they obtain a search warrant. I can assure you, unless you are the President of the USA, no judge will issue a search warrant for your phone.

Same goes if the phone is shown as moving down a highway; no roadblocks will be setup.

Therefore, the best part of any software is a complete wipe of the phone. I mean something that wipes your complete identity, not just the contacts, but everything, including the operating system software. Make the phone totally worthless to the person who stole it or found it and does not call to return the number.
 

mikespe

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I wonder how thorough they tested the contact wipe feature.

Contacts are tied to your gmail account. And when you delete a contact on your phone, it syncs with your gmail account, and is gone from there as well. Hopefully they just nuke the gmail account that your phone was setup with, then remove the contacts...

This is a very good point and should be clarified...You theoretically could lose your whole address book if you wipe your phone...
 

DF Smod

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...You theoretically could lose your whole address book if you wipe your phone...
I don't believe this to be true, chances are a wipe of your phone will simply sign you out of your google account, not delete it from the google servers, and unless your gmail information was compromised then it would be safe
 

bhall238

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The locate if lost and wipe feature are the two most important features offered for any type of software.....
Therefore, the best part of any software is a complete wipe of the phone. I mean something that wipes your complete identity, not just the contacts, but everything, including the operating system software. Make the phone totally worthless to the person who stole it or found it and does not call to return the number.

I can speak from personal experience that if you report your phone stolen Verizon will not activate it so the phone will be worthless to the person who stole or found it in that way. My daughter bought a phone from someone from Craig's List that turned out to be stolen and Verizon would not activate it. To protect your contacts and data though, the wipe or some kind of lock down process would be priceless (well, let's say awesome so as not to give Verizon ideas about how much to charge for this feature).
 

zfly9

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I keep trying to locate phone and nothing. Anyone else?

Google Nav works perfect on my phone btw.
 
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RETG

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I can speak from personal experience that if you report your phone stolen Verizon will not activate it so the phone will be worthless to the person who stole or found it in that way. My daughter bought a phone from someone from Craig's List that turned out to be stolen and Verizon would not activate it. To protect your contacts and data though, the wipe or some kind of lock down process would be priceless (well, let's say awesome so as not to give Verizon ideas about how much to charge for this feature).

True; Verizon will not activate a phone reported stolen. I would be more concerned with the contacts, calander information, and possible programmed passwords, than the actual use of the phone. Within minutes of reporting the phone stolen, it would be worthless as a phone.

A better feature, if the phone was actually stolen would be a feature to set it on fire. Just imagine if it is in their front pocket when the combustion begins.:icon_ banana::icon_ banana:
 

HamDog

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I'll note here that "THIS ONLY WORKS VIA TEXT MESSAGING". Not in just downloading the app, but in how it works. Everytime you want to locate your phone or do anything else, it sends a text to your phone.

So this app is useless for people like me who have texting turned off through Verizon. I use Google Voice for all text messaging and this Mobile Recovery will not work with GV.

Hope this will help someone else not waste time who uses GV.
 

bhall238

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....
A better feature, if the phone was actually stolen would be a feature to set it on fire. Just imagine if it is in their front pocket when the combustion begins.:icon_ banana::icon_ banana:

...or back pocket. Yes that would be nice.
 
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