Android photo backup app reveals burglars' identities, stupidity

Burglaries are an unfortunately commonplace event in daily urban life, but on some very rare occasions their outcomes give cause for celebration and maybe even a smile. Two young men from the Portland area, keen to get on the smartphone bandwagon without paying, broke in and stole a pair of Motorola Android handsets (along with other electronics) from a nearby household. What they didn't foresee, however, was that one of the phones would have the free Lookout app, which automatically backs up all photos taken with the handset to a user-accessible server every night. So, in the midst of testing out their ill-gotten loot, the criminals provided the phone's legitimate owner with enough visual clues for the police to swoop in and apprehend one of them. The search for his partner in crime continues, but the "gadget versus man" fight has already concluded with a clear win for what we presume was a Droid.

[Thanks, John]

[Tes Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:48AM]

@freefx
Turning Latitude on on my Nokia N96...setting to auto update every 6 hours. Setting to auto start when the phone is turned on...cheers for the tip. Would never have thought to use it in this way.

[Johnny Rockets Posted Jan 12th 2010 5:53PM]

@freefx

Is there any way to get Latitude to auto-update every so often? Or is that not possible, unless you start Maps etc?

I've tried GPS Tracker / Instamapper, but just wondering if Latitude can do the same thing.

[freefx Posted Jan 12th 2010 6:56PM]

@Johnny Rockets To save power, the gps on the Droid (and others I assume) is only active when an app is using it. So even if GPS is turned on in settings, it doesn't get a position fix until it is requested by an app. Latitude uses the best location it has available, and if the GPS isn't being actively used by another program, it will update based off cell tower locations. The update frequency of Latitude is determined by your usage. If the phone is just sitting there it updates every 45-60 minutes using cell towers, but if you are using maps or navigation it updates much more frequently using GPS. There is no option to change the update frequency.

I wouldn't rely on Latitude to recover your phone because it doesn't return a gps fix unless the user opens an app the activates the gps. Both my Droid and my wife's now have the Where's my Droid? app where you can send a text message and it activates the GPS, waits for a fix, and then returns the coordinates.

Fortunately for my wife, Latitude came through and she got her phone back after just 6 hours.

[Chefgon Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:18AM]

What was the app called? I want it.

[N1Anon Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:31AM]

@Chefgon
Mobile Security is the app and is put out by lookout.

[bigtimebooch Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:47PM]

@Chefgon

Also check out Mobile Defense. Mobile Defense uses an SMS to talk to your phone and will bring up a google map showing you its location. I believe it can do this even if GPS is off as the SMS the phone receives will turn it back on. It hides the icon after activation so there is no real way to stop it from running short of going to the website and entering your username/password. In addition it runs in the background as a task that can't be killed. A theif would really have to know what they are doing (or keep the phone off) to get around it.

[bigtimebooch Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:54PM]

@bigtimebooch

After breifly using mobile security. I would say that mobile defense is better if you are just looking for an app to track/recover your phone if it is lost or stolen. It is geared much more to this than mobile security (which includes an anti-virus app among other things).

I noticed that if I kill all tasks using taskiller mobile security goes down, but mobile defense continues running in the background. Both have the screeth/alarm feature. Mobile defense goes a bit further in that it's commands are "sticky" (if the phone was off at the time you initiated the command it will be executed when the phone is started), it notifies you if the SIM is removed (and gives you location/time data), and allows you to remotely wipe and lock the phone. Did I mention it is free?

Mobile securities feature of backing up pictures seems handy, but it does this on a schedule rather than right after the picture is taken.

[Moisture Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:35AM]

The iPhone also has that service through MobileMe where you can "Find my iPhone" and track it through GPS if its lost or stolen. Send remote wipe, text message alerts and all that stuff.

[avinash240 Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:40AM]

@Moisture I thought mobileMe was a pay service?

[ebgolfin Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:41AM]

@Moisture

Yeah, kinda reminds me of this article I read a while back.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/need-cheap-location-tracker-try-99-iphone

Obviously the article is specific to the iPhone, but I'm sure this is easily possible on other smartphones as well. Pretty cool.

[sirphunkee Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:00AM]

A-ha!! I KNEW it was Mr Blurrycam all along!

[Harrison Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:09AM]

I guess that was one droid he shouldn't have found.

[pyehac Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:17AM]

Talk about publicity. I'm downloading this app onto my MyTouch.

[raaaaaa Posted Jan 12th 2010 12:01PM]

what app was installed that provided this functionality?

[Wwhat Posted Jan 12th 2010 12:40PM]

So what's more likely, the cops managed to conclude something from the fuzzy pictures, or they traced the cell-signal to its source? Or maybe the damn thing has geo-tagging on the pictures.
I don't think the images did it though.

[hardluckstories Posted Jan 12th 2010 12:48PM]

speaking of stupidity, a test to see if profile pic update worked, if it didn't then I officially give up

[hardluckstories Posted Jan 12th 2010 12:49PM]

@hardluckstories

annnd it didn't

[Wwhat Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:26PM]

Kept it 64x64 pixels?

[hardluckstories Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:37PM]

@Wwhat

yea, 64x64 .jpg

i have tried this sooo many times, and LAME! as i enjoy the comments on engadget :(

[hardluckstories Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:55PM]

@Wwhat


ahahahahaha!!! i never tried Firefox instead of Safari though and now it works!!!!!

yaassssss! lol

[gentlefury Posted Jan 12th 2010 2:09PM]

If they had GPS Location on their photos they could have pinpointed where the pics were taken!

[marcpint Posted Jan 12th 2010 6:59PM]

looks like a posible mobile version for Prey http://preyproject.com/

[darkkite Posted Jan 12th 2010 8:00PM]

After reading this on Phandroid i immediately installed this app. Not only does it back up your pictures and contacts at user selected intervals, but you can also locate your phone on google map (worked for me inside school, and you can make your phone scream really loud even if the phone is on silent

[Lookout Posted Jan 12th 2010 8:52PM]

Thanks everyone who has downloaded or checked out the app so far, and for all the feedback! Be sure to head over to http://www.mylookout.com and tell your friends, and if you have questions or need support, contact us at support.at.mylookout.dot.com

[newone757 Posted Jan 13th 2010 12:31AM]

Microsoft myphone for windows mobile can do the same thing. Mine syncs all my contacts,pics,videos, documents and gps location 2 am every night while i sleep.

i can log in to myphone website and see anything i have on my phone

[newone757 Posted Jan 13th 2010 12:33AM]

@newone757

for free too

[insky Posted Jan 14th 2010 8:31PM]

@newone757
Having previously had the HTC series of "Touch" phones, I'm really missing MyPhone on my DROID.

[JAG Posted Jan 13th 2010 7:56AM]

Drooooooooooooid.... XD

[RuckingFetard Posted Jan 13th 2010 9:52PM]

I just installed WaveSecure for my Android Phone. THANK GOD.

[joellr17 Posted Apr 8th 2010 5:28PM]

It Seems that Photo Backup can really protect you from natural disasters, viruses, and theft. lol

[joellr17 Posted Apr 8th 2010 5:33PM]

Android Photo Backup is the ultimate protection from theft.

here are some other ways Photo backup can help you http://www.online-data-backup-and-software.com/online-photo-backup.html