talkmagic.co.uk

I have a Blackberry. I'm not even sure that's considered "smart" anymore!

Mandrake wrote:Interesting, probably data only as it classes the HTC as a data storage device I'll see if the anti-virus program bods can confirm if their software checks for all threats including HTC/Android type stuff.....

So, is there recommended and reliable anti virus software for Smartphones?

All the big boys are doing mobile antivirus, often with free versions. I believe AVG include remote wipe with their free version.

themagicwand wrote:I have a Blackberry. I'm not even sure that's considered "smart" anymore!

If you can download and run code, it's worth hacking.

TonyB wrote:It constantly amazes me how many people use those smart phones. I had a Nokia phone that could take pictures and go on the internet, but it was big and bulky and useless. I now have a cheap phone that takes calls and sends texts. Nothing more.

I would never purchase an Apple product. Under Steve Jobs they became a greedy cash-cow. I particularly object to the fact that if you use an Apple phone they keep track of where you are - they even upload your location on facebook. So in answer to your initial quesiton, no, I don't use a smart phone. And if my kids ever get one, they will have to leave them at their mother's house when I have them.

Two things put me off Apple.
1, knowingly using labour which is worked under such awful conditions that suicide was so attractive a way out that they had to install nets around the buildings to try and prevent it. I know most eastern-made tech products are made in conditions we wouldn't accept in the west, but Foxconn is particularly bad.
2, repackaging decade-old ideas as "innovations" by Apple. Their "face time" (video calling only on WiFi) came about ten years behind 3 mobile's video calling (over the mobile network - something Apple still don't offer). I find it difficult to want to give my money to such a dishonest company.


As for smartphones in general... I think I know the Nokia you mean and they were NOTHING like the current crop. Until this year I've been borderline luddite with my phones. I got one hand-me-down after another for as long as I could (I think I had one new phones in the space of about 10 years) and when I couldn't get any more, I decided to get a smartphone (HTC Desire - was the best available at the time). As a phone it's no different from the previous "bricks" I used to carry, but as a mobile internet connection, camera, calculator, to-do list, calendar, email client, book (seriously!), mp3 player, radio, podcast aggregator, map, yellow pages, price-checker and general more-everyday-usefulness-than-you-could-carry-in-an-entire-suitcase it's a staggering bit of kit.

If you see it as a phone, it's an overpriced, overcomplicated bit of junk.
If you see it as a super-useful gadget that can ALSO make phonecalls it takes on a very different character.

I spoke to two IT people last night about their experiences of anti-virus for Smartphones. One big problem is that some AV programs use a lot of power so the battery life is considerably reduced.

I have an Android platform (HTC Desire) and run Lookout Security (the free version).

Mandrake wrote:I spoke to two IT people last night about their experiences of anti-virus for Smartphones. One big problem is that some AV programs use a lot of power so the battery life is considerably reduced.

So put it on charge already!

Tomo - are you suggesting that they don't run as realtime protection?
If not the "put it on charge" response doesn't really help if you're away from mains power for a full day.

When I first got my Desire it rarely made it through a full day. Only when I'd made a lot of changes to the sync setup and figured out how to stop some very annoying bundled software constantly trying to sync data when it wasn't even used did I see an improvement. The charging cycle that bumped up the times seemed to improve things too.

I'd be afraid that a realtime AV package really would turn back the clock to the days where I dared not use the phone much during the day in case I needed it later on.

Android Malware up 472% in just 4 months.

http://www.redmondpie.com/android-malwa ... ince-july/