[TerraMobility]

Terra Mobility is pleased to announce the Beta release of BuddyGuard.

BuddyGuard is a new application that allows you to protect your privacy and personal information in the event of the loss or theft of your BlackBerry. With BuddyGuard, you can remotely access and control your BlackBerry using commands send via SMS messages.

Key Features:

• Wipe: Remotely wipes personal data from your BlackBerry. Removes contacts, email and phone log data to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing it.
• Alert: Assists in finding a misplaced phone by playing a tone, even if the phone is in silent or vibrate-only mode.
• Lock: Instructs your BlackBerry to lock itself to prevent unauthorized access. Protects your data without deleting it.
• List: Emails a full listing of the data that would be removed by the Wipe command. Allows you to test and verify what a Wipe will do without actually deleting your data.
• Help: Remotely receive a listing of the available commands. Useful when you've forgotten the set of supported commands.

BuddyGuard also provides ease-of-use features, such as password recovery and SMS replies to acknowledge that the command was successfully executed.

Supported devices include all trackball, trackpad and touch screen BlackBerrys.

** Update: December 15th **
Beta 2 release (v0.6.1.4):

• Locate: We've added a Locate command (bg-locate). This command will reply with a link to the mapped location of your BlackBerry. Note: This feature requires device GPS support.
• Send Command by Email: BuddyGuard will now accept commands sent by email. Include the command and your password in the email body, using the same format as with SMS message. BuddyGuard will detect the email, process the command and delete the email to ensure that no one can use it to discover your password.
• Alert: the volume is now louder and tone is more noticeable.
• Several bug fixes, including a fix for email addresses of the form [email protected]

** Update: January 25th **
Beta 3 release (v0.7.0.3):

• Lock: Now uses your BuddyGuard password so it works even if you don't have a system password. Will display a screen with your contact information and a "Call Owner" button.
• Alert: Will lock your BlackBerry and display the same contact information screen as the Lock command.
• Wipe: BuddyGuard has added the files in Device Memory and on the SD Card to the list of items it will delete.
• A "Welcome" email is sent to first time users, with how-to-use instructions and the list of available commands.
• More descriptive commands replies, including suggestions for other commands that may be relevant.
• Various bug fixes.

** Update: February 8th **
Beta 4 release (v0.7.1.6):

• Enhanced the Alert sound to be much more noticeable, making it easier to find your phone when misplaced.
• Fixed an exception that occurred on some devices during the phone reboot. This exception would cause BuddyGuard to ignore commands.
• Fixed an issue with the Alert not playing on the 8330.
• Support for using the subject line when sending commands by email messages.
• Improved the reliability of the Locate command.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Lock screen to not be displayed on some devices.

** Update: February 22th **
Beta 5 release (v0.7.2.0):

• Enhanced Wipe command to delete entries for Calendar, MemoPad and Tasks.
• User is prompted if a BIS account is used for the Notification email (not recommended).
• Fixed "Send Us Feedback" menu item failure.
• No longer send "invalid password" replies on device reboot.
• Miscellaneous fixes.

** Update: April 19th **
Beta 6 release (v0.8.0.3):

• Completely update UI makes the app easier to learn and use.
• Support custom user-defined Lock screen messages.
• Added Owner Name setting in the Options.
• Improved reliability for Check for Updates and connecting to online help pages.
• New "Troubleshooting" and "Device Information" items.
• Minor enhancements in the GPS support.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes.

To try out the FREE Beta, visit the CrackBerry App Store, in BlackBerry App World, or download it OTA by visiting http://m.terramobility.com/bg in your BlackBerry browser.

[Razkull]

Will be trying this out

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rainbowbrite812]

Mainly tried this for the alert feature as I'm always misplacing my phone when on vibrate...I got the msg "bg-alert <password> is not a recognized command". I tried the bg-help first to check commands and that worked and alert is listed as a command...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rizzzzoooo]

I can't seem to figure this program out!! any command I send nothing happens or I get the "password is incorrect" message. What gives?

[skullz]

I can't figure it out either! Some directions on how to use would be great!...lol

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cornholio_nl]

Great idea and program. My bold is responding to the sms messages i send to it! Only with the list command it mentioned an error.

This is what i received;

Buddyguard: list summary
Contacts: 203
Messages: 156
Phone logs: 27
An error occurd. Some entries may not have been processed.

You are aware of this error? I also tested the alert command, this works fine! Keep up the good work!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cwadams70]

Just dl'ed and works with the help command but still waiting on a response. The program shows a grea deal of promise though. Good job.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cwadams70]

Btw- "still waiting on a response" from the alert command. Sorry my brain was moving faster than my touchscreen.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[skullz]

How do you get the alert to work. Just use another phone and text bg-alert and password?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[TerraMobility]

@cornholio_nl:
The "error has occurred" text means that for some reason an items in one of the data stores (likely Messages) was unable to be processed. For the List command (bg-list) that would mean that BuddyGuard wasn't able to extract all of the information that it was asking for.

We're looking at ways to improve the feedback when this condition happens so that it can be more informative and hopefuly will give the user some direction as to any action they might be able to take.

Logan

[TerraMobility]

I can't figure it out either! Some directions on how to use would be great!...lol

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

There are actually a couple of places we've tried to provide some instructions. The first is in the Welcome screens, which are intended to help you set up the app and also include a screen showing how to send the commands. We've tried to balance the content in these screens to give you enough information to get started, but not so much that you're tempted to skip them.

The second place is in the Help screen (select the Help menu item to access this). When you click on the "Help website" item in the Help screen, the browser will launch and open a web page that contains information on how the app works, a listing of the supported commands and their descriptions, and more.

If you have any suggestions or feedback on how we might improve in this area we'd love to hear them. Please feel free to use the "Send Us Feedback" menu item in the app to let us know your ideas.

[TerraMobility]

Mainly tried this for the alert feature as I'm always misplacing my phone when on vibrate...I got the msg "bg-alert <password> is not a recognized command". I tried the bg-help first to check commands and that worked and alert is listed as a command...

The most likely reason the "not a recognized command" status would be returned is if there was text appended after the password. This would occur even if it's just a space chacacter, which might be hard to catch. Unfortunately the Beta 1 release isn't tolerant of any text located after the password. We'll be addressing this in the next Beta so this shouldn't be a problem in future releases.

I would recommend checking the received SMS message that contained the BuddyGuard command and password. Try verifying whether there is an extra space (or some extra text) after the password. If so, try sending your commands without this extra text.

Another reason this status can be returned is if there is no space separating the command and the password. However, since you were able to get the Help command (bg-help) to respond, I would assume your command messages are correctly formed.

[TerraMobility]

I can't seem to figure this program out!! any command I send nothing happens or I get the "password is incorrect" message. What gives?

There are a few possible reasons why BuddyGuard might be returning an "invalid password" status.

1. Your BuddyGuard password can contains any alpha, numeric, or symbol character except a space. If your password contains a space, you'll need to change it to remove that space character.
   
2. If there is more than a single space character between the command and the password in your SMS message. Currently BuddyGuard does not allow extra space characters between the command and the password, though this will be addressed in the next Beta.
   
3. Unlike the commands, the password is case sensitive, so the case (upper, lower) of the password characters must match. For example: abcd and Abcd will be flagged as non-matching.
   
4. When showing the format of the commands, the Help text in the application sometimes refers to the password as <password>. This is intended to denote that you should replace that string with your actual BuddyGuard password, rather than appending the <password> string itself. It's unlikley that this is the cause of the issue you're seeing, but I wanted to include it for completeness.

Of course, it's also possible you're seeing a bug that we haven't encountered yet.

There is a "Help website" item that is accessible in the Help screen of the application. This links to a web page that contains information on how to use the program. We'll be trying to regularly update that page to provide the latest on known issues as well, so feel free to check that out.

[skullz]

I got it to work on alert. Im assuming there is a way to change the alert sound to something very irritating instead of my peaceful rings im getting...lol And only thing i really dont like so far is that i have to type my password i chose to set it up. If i use someone elses phone and forget to delete it, my password is there for all to see. And if theyve heard about this program they could wipe my berry just as well as i can... Just something i thought of.

[TerraMobility]

@skullz:
You're right that you should always delete any SMS message with BuddyGuard commands you send from someone else's phone. The SMS method for sending commands is really intended for emergency situations, when you're away from your house/office and realize you've lost your phone. Most likely you'll want to secure your BlackBerry as soon as possible, so being able to borrow a phone to send a quick SMS works very well.

The other method for sending commands, which isn't supported by Beta 1, is by email. We're working on implementing support for that and expect it to be in our next Beta release. In the meanwhile, the SMS method provides the critical access-it-from-anywhere functionality that you'd need to secure your phone.

[skullz]

I underatnd that completely, but its also for people who lose there phone in house or nearby. And some do it a lot...lol not knocking it at all,as its a great program from what I see. Just giving some insight to deleting sms or someone will have password. I always delete mine right after I send a message anyways. Btw, can you change tones for alert?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cornholio_nl]

Will there be any GPS functionallity for this program? It would be great if it could acces the GPS in the phone and reply its location by mail / sms.

It would be cool if you could send commands through email aswell. Changing the alert tone would be a nice option.

How do you plan to differentiate this program compared to E-GPS (also provided in the CB app store) functionality wise?

Im running the program on my Bold now for a couple of days and im quite impressed by its mem footprint and batt usage, its not noticable.

Keep up the good work!

[LunesNegro]

So far very impressed. I'm going to give it a full run through and test tomorrow but I've tried the alert with no issues at all.

I have a suggestion - You should only be able to turn off the alert with a password. If someone near by has stolen your phone they will just off the alter as soon as it turns on. The alter also needs to be something that will give more of an "SOS" type of feel.

But like I said so far very impressed.

Great job

[TerraMobility]

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback. While I can't fully say what we have planned at this point, but I can confirm that we'll be supporting sending commands by email and also adding some GPS functionality. Seems like the consensus is we need to make our Alert tone a bit more aggravating too

If you have other features you'd like to see in the app we'd love to hear them. You can post those here or use the "Send Us Feedback" feature in the app to pass those along.

[Slapnpop826]

Is there a way to recover my password without having the device?

[naman919]

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback. While I can't fully say what we have planned at this point, but I can confirm that we'll be supporting sending commands by email and also adding some GPS functionality. Seems like the consensus is we need to make our Alert tone a bit more aggravating too

If you have other features you'd like to see in the app we'd love to hear them. You can post those here or use the "Send Us Feedback" feature in the app to pass those along.

I would like to see the option to wipe the SD card as well. That would be very handy too.

When do you plan on updating the program with new features?

[LunesNegro]

I went to work to have a meeting with my boss and on the way out I realized that I didn't have my Blackberry. I looked around for about 5 minutes and was completely baffled because I didn't remember putting it anywhere.

Everyone at my work place has Blackberry's (I'm a personal trainer by the way) so I asked a friend to use her cell pone. I send a quick bg-alert *********** to my phone and I heard it's faint cry.

Within a few seconds I found my phone.

All is well again.

BuddyGuard is a wicked application. I"m gonna sick with you guys all the way through your beta process and even after you guys go live.

I've already suggested this but the tone needs to be LOUDER and needs to be more prominent.

Thanks guys.

[TerraMobility]

Is there a way to recover my password without having the device?

Unfortunately there currently isn't any way to recover your password without your device. There are some solutions to this that we're been looking at, but the Beta 1 doesn't have any of those implemented.

[TerraMobility]

When do you plan on updating the program with new features?

Soon.

We have the feature set for Beta 2 locked down and are now testing and trying to address a couple of issues discovered in Beta 1. Once we release the next Beta, BuddyGuard should notify you that the update is available by changing its icon from green to yellow. To install the update, simply open the app and when prompted to downloaded the update select OK.

And, yes, the alert will be louder and more "noticable".

[skullz]

Maybe you can make the alert, so that you can change to the persons liking too. Like use ringtones that a person has downloaded on there phone. Just a suggestion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com