[French]

e-GPS is a program that allows you to send alerts to your Blackberry to wipe it (in the event it is stolen), or to sound an alert (if you have misplaced it), or to respond to you with the GPS coordinates of its location.

It's a great concept but be warned that whatever e-mail address you set up for the program to use on the device is also the e-mail address the program will respond to. EDITED: You can send the command to any e-mail address on the device...you do not have to use the e-mail address you set up in the programSo if you lose your Blackberry, or it's stolen, and you aren't at a computer and your friend has their Blackberry, you can e-mail the command to have the Blackberry send you its GPS coordinates, but it's going to send them to the e-mail on the device, NOT the e-mail you sent the command from. EDITED: This is true...it will send coordinates to the e-mail address you set up within the program, not the address you sent the command from.

This makes no sense to me. If I send the command from XX@__, then the darn program should respond to XX@__. Or the program should allow for another e-mail address to be used in addition. EDITED: I misunderstood how the program worked...the address you set up in the program is where the responses will be sent to.

Also, on a personal note, the developer is rude. I would suggest you avoid this developer (Felix Reznik) and his company (The DB Group). Rather than making a helpful suggestion he chose to respond to my concern by telling me now that I "understand" how the program works I should set it up accordingly. EDITED: He was as frustrated with me as I was with him. Thankfully it got figured out and I'm trying to do right by updating this thread.

I think the program is seriously flawed as is and want to make sure others are aware of how it works before paying for the application. If you don't mind the responses going to the same email address you are sending the alerts to then it seems it would work for you. However if you are like me and want to try to keep your Blackberry safe you would be better off looking at other solutions. EDITED: Because I was misunderstanding the functionality this is no longer true. I actually would recommend this program now. Read the rest of the thread for more information.

[berryite]

whatever e-mail address you set up for the program to use on the device is also the e-mail address the program will respond to. So if you lose your Blackberry, or it's stolen, and you aren't at a computer and your friend has their Blackberry, you can e-mail the command to have the Blackberry send you its GPS coordinates, but it's going to send them to the e-mail on the device, NOT the e-mail you sent the command from.

Maybe I'm just not understanding the app. But what sense would it make to allow anyone with a BlackBerry to send an email to your BlackBerry to determine your location? That seems to be a very dangerous security issue. You want strangers to be able to locate your position? You want a kooky spouse with a restraining order against them to be able to find your location by using this product?

Seems like the developer is trying to build a product to protect his customers from stalkers and nuts. What is wrong with that? Or am I missing something?

[French]

You set up a PIN...so you send the command with PIN to "activate" the command. A person would have to know your PIN.

Example: locationXXXX

(where XXXX=PIN)

[berryite]

You set up a PIN...so you send the command with PIN to "activate" the command. A person would have to know your PIN.

Example: locationXXXX

(where XXXX=PIN)

Is this a unique pin that can be changed at will so if someone gets ahold of it and can track you, you have the ability to shut them out?

I understand some of your frustration but I also can see the developer's problem too. Some nutcase ex spouse uses this app to track you without you knowing it and follows you at night and jumps you and you sue the developer for having a product that jeopardized your security ... well you see where that is going.

By locking your email to your primary email, it appears to be protecting your security. You can only check the location of your device by accessing your own email. By following these protocols, the developer is doing everything within reason to protect your security.

Again, I've never used this app. I'm just responding to what you've shared here so it is possible I'm missing something.

[French]

I have since had many back and forths with the developer. While I still think he could have been more polite and responded better, I have learned that the commands can be sent to any e-mail address that is set up on the Blackberry. That wasn't clear to me and I thought I could only send the alert to the e-mail address set up in the program.

[berryite]

I have since had many back and forths with the developer. While I still think he could have been more polite and responded better, I have learned that the commands can be sent to any e-mail address that is set up on the Blackberry. That wasn't clear to me and I thought I could only send the alert to the e-mail address set up in the program.

So now there is nothing wrong with the app but the problem is that customer service just could be better?

[French]

Is this a unique pin that can be changed at will so if someone gets ahold of it and can track you, you have the ability to shut them out?

I understand some of your frustration but I also can see the developer's problem too. Some nutcase ex spouse uses this app to track you without you knowing it and follows you at night and jumps you and you sue the developer for having a product that jeopardized your security ... well you see where that is going.

By locking your email to your primary email, it appears to be protecting your security. You can only check the location of your device by accessing your own email. By following these protocols, the developer is doing everything within reason to protect your security.

Again, I've never used this app. I'm just responding to what you've shared here so it is possible I'm missing something.

Actually there was a misunderstanding on my part with the functionality of the program. You set up the e-mail address in the program where you want the alert responses sent to. I had it in my brain that that address was where you had to send the alerts to. Turns out you can send the alerts to any e-mail address present on the device.

So if you want to know the location of your Blackberry, you would e-mail any address that is set up on the Blackberry with the word location plus your 4-digit PIN. The program would then reply to the e-mail address you set up in the program.

You must have the PIN with the command in order for the command to work.

ETA: You have to enter the PIN in order to change the address where messages are sent to as well. So a person would have to know the PIN to do anything that would compromise your privacy.

[berryite]

Actually there was a misunderstanding on my part with the functionality of the program. You set up the e-mail address in the program where you want the alert responses sent to. I had it in my brain that that address was where you had to send the alerts to. Turns out you can send the alerts to any e-mail address present on the device.

So if you want to know the location of your Blackberry, you would e-mail any address that is set up on the Blackberry with the word location plus your 4-digit PIN. The program would then reply to the e-mail address you set up in the program.

You must have the PIN with the command in order for the command to work.

ETA: You have to enter the PIN in order to change the address where messages are sent to as well. So a person would have to know the PIN to do anything that would compromise your privacy.

I'm just following this thread because I'm interested in taking a look at the app.

So now the app is ok and you would recommend it and I should take a look at it?

Do you have a URL for the developer's homepage?

[French]

I'm just following this thread because I'm interested in taking a look at the app.

So now the app is ok and you would recommend it and I should take a look at it?

Do you have a URL for the developer's homepage?

Yes, I've done a 180...I would recommend. I've asked mods to update my thread title.

I don't have a home page for them but the app can be found in the Blackberry App world. eGPS (or it could be e-GPS...not sure).

When you compare it to SMRTGUARD it's a bargain and does almost all the same things. Developer is also taking suggestions for future enhancements and once we cleared up my confusion we are o.k. I don't think he understood my initial e-mail where I expressed concern about where the e-mails were going. And as it turns out I was not understanding how the program was meant to work.

Definitely take a look at it.

ETA: The GPS coordinates it returned are impressive. It pointed my house exactly, and even the correct SIDE of the house I was on.

[berryite]

Yes, I've done a 180...I would recommend. I've asked mods to update my thread title.

Your sense of fairplay and honesty is refreshing. I'll take a look at the app.

[rlmesq]

I'm surprised that you didn't have a good customer service experience with Felix. He was very polite and helpful when I emailed him. Maybe you got off on the wrong foot.

BTW, the program is on sale for half price today only, 11/27/2009, through the Mobihand partner stores.

I bought it for a "test drive" because I have eight months left on my SmrtGuard subscription but was thinking about buying a gift copy for a friend who lost her BB (and a $100 bottle of Barolo) in a cab in San Francisco.

It doesn't have some of the backup functions of SmrtGuard (which really don't matter to me, because I have Google Sync for my calendar and contacts), but the few simple functions in the program work great.

One minor snag: The alertxxx function doesn't work properly via SMS unless the SMS alert in the active profile is set to silent. The developers of SmrtGuard have a similar known issue, and it doesn't work at all if the active profile is set to loud or medium.

Overall, this is a great little app, and gives SmrtGuard a real run for its money at a fraction of the price.

[Bob G]

So let me get this straight.

* There are 4 commands: contacts<PIN>, location<PIN>, alert<PIN>, and wipe<PIN>.

* There is an address from which I send a command. This can be any SMS address (as long as SMS notification on the target BlackBerry is set to silent), or this can be from the e-mail address that I specify in the e-GPS application. Commands from all other e-mail addresses are ignored.

* There is the e-mail address to which I send the command. This can be any of the e-mail addresses that are set up on the target BlackBerry.

* And there is the e-mail address to which the reply is sent. This is the e-mail address that I specify in the e-GPS application.


I did some testing. My wife sent 'location<PIN>' via SMS, and e-GPS did nothing. I didn't try disabling SMS notifiers in my BB profile, because I use SMS for other uses (i.e., receiving messages), so disabling notifiers is an unacceptable workaround.

Then I sent the commmand from an e-mail address that is different from the one specified in the e-GPS application, and e-GPS again did nothing. If I lose my BlackBerry, I want to be able to wipe it *now*, not have to wait until I can get back to my desktop to get access to my e-mail account. This means that I will ask the first person I see with e-mail access (e.g., the manager at the restaurant, the guy at the next table with a BlackBerry, etc.) to send the wipe command.

Finally I sent the command from the e-mail address that is specified in the e-GPS application, and my BlackBerry replied with the current GPS location to the e-mail address that is specified in the e-GPS application. Unfortunately, the e-Mail message remained in the BlackBerry inbox, so any thief who steals my BlackBerry has convenient access to my e-GPS PIN (i.e., The message title = 'location<PIN>'.).

So I can conclude that e-GPS has potential, but in its present form is a poor security application. I have some past experience with RobLock, and although it has many warts of its own, it has these advantages:
* It can receive commands from SMS, any e-mail address, or their web site.
* After it receives a command, it deletes the SMS or e-mail message from the inbox.
* It supports more commands (e.g., lock, call, and text). Sometimes your BlackBerry is just temporarily misplaced (not necessarily stolen), so the option to remotely lock it is nice.
* When it wipes, it just deletes the important data; it doesn't totally nuke the OS and brick the BlackBerry.

Hopefully a future version of e-GPS will include more functionality.

[French]

Bob G: The command can be sent TO any e-mail address that is set up on the Blackberry. It is not locked to a specific one. If the e-mail addy is set up on the Blackberry you can use it. So the scenario you mentioned of borrowing the first device you see that can e-mail or text works. Just make sure the command goes to an account set up on the Blackberry.

If your wife sent the e-mail from the address you set up within eGPS, then reason your wife didn't receive GPS coordinates, I believe, is because the message command may need to be in the subject line AND the body of the e-mail.

So you can SEND commands to any address, but the program will only respond to the address you set up within the program.

What I did for me was set up responses to my Gmail account which is internet based and should be accessible from whatever method I use to send a command (well, except SMS). And in my case I don't use my vzw.blackberry.net e-mail address for anything other than Facebook and now that is the address I will use to send the command should I ever need it. The messages to that account go through instantly (and I do mean instantly), and I have the icon for that account hidden inside a hidden folder, and I have all notifications for that particular account turned off. So unless the person really knows what they are doing, and most don't, I think I would be able to successfully send a PIN request to the device without them realizing it. I also have my main mailbox hidden (don't use the all-in-one mailbox).

The only command that the program actually responds to with information that I could see you wanting to have access to immediatly is the location command. The contacts could (more than likely) wait.

Hopefully this clears up any issues you see with the program.

By the way, I did ask the developer if he would consider adding "lock" as a command and he said he would. I believe others have inquired about it as well.

So to reoutline your comparisons:

* It can receive commands from SMS, any e-mail address, or their web site. eGPS can receive commands sent from any SMS or any e-mail address. The command can be sent to any e-mail address set up on the Blackberry. There is no sending messages via website option.
* After it receives a command, it deletes the SMS or e-mail message from the inbox. eGPS does not do this to my knowledge and I think this would be a nice feature.
* It supports more commands (e.g., lock, call, and text). Sometimes your BlackBerry is just temporarily misplaced (not necessarily stolen), so the option to remotely lock it is nice. The developer is definitely taking requests for consideration.
* When it wipes, it just deletes the important data; it doesn't totally nuke the OS and brick the BlackBerry. This might be a personal preference, but if someone did steal my Blackberry I prefer they have a nuked/bricked Blackberry rather than one they can then set up to use for themself.

[Bob G]

Bob G: The command can be sent TO any e-mail address that is set up on the Blackberry. It is not locked to a specific one. If the e-mail addy is set up on the Blackberry you can use it. So the scenario you mentioned of borrowing the first device you see that can e-mail or text works. Just make sure the command goes to an account set up on the Blackberry.

If your wife sent the e-mail from the address you set up within eGPS, then reason your wife didn't receive GPS coordinates, I believe, is because the message command may need to be in the subject line AND the body of the e-mail.

So you can SEND commands to any address, but the program will only respond to the address you set up within the program.

What I did for me was set up responses to my Gmail account which is internet based and should be accessible from whatever method I use to send a command (well, except SMS). And in my case I don't use my vzw.blackberry.net e-mail address for anything other than Facebook and now that is the address I will use to send the command should I ever need it. The messages to that account go through instantly (and I do mean instantly), and I have the icon for that account hidden inside a hidden folder, and I have all notifications for that particular account turned off. So unless the person really knows what they are doing, and most don't, I think I would be able to successfully send a PIN request to the device without them realizing it. I also have my main mailbox hidden (don't use the all-in-one mailbox).

The only command that the program actually responds to with information that I could see you wanting to have access to immediatly is the location command. The contacts could (more than likely) wait.

Hopefully this clears up any issues you see with the program.

By the way, I did ask the developer if he would consider adding "lock" as a command and he said he would. I believe others have inquired about it as well.

So to reoutline your comparisons:

* It can receive commands from SMS, any e-mail address, or their web site. eGPS can receive commands sent from any SMS or any e-mail address. The command can be sent to any e-mail address set up on the Blackberry. There is no sending messages via website option.
* After it receives a command, it deletes the SMS or e-mail message from the inbox. eGPS does not do this to my knowledge and I think this would be a nice feature.
* It supports more commands (e.g., lock, call, and text). Sometimes your BlackBerry is just temporarily misplaced (not necessarily stolen), so the option to remotely lock it is nice. The developer is definitely taking requests for consideration.
* When it wipes, it just deletes the important data; it doesn't totally nuke the OS and brick the BlackBerry. This might be a personal preference, but if someone did steal my Blackberry I prefer they have a nuked/bricked Blackberry rather than one they can then set up to use for themself.

Neat idea for using the blackberry.net account. And thanks for the tip on the e-mail format.

I tried sending the location command again from an e-mail address that is different than the one specified in e-GPS, but this time I put the command in both the subject and the body. It worked!

I sure hope they can get SMS command support working soon (without needing to disable SMS notifiers).