WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Yougetitback debuted its service to help protect, recover and replace mobile devices from theft and loss, called Mobile Superhero. Yougetitback protects and helps recover mobile devices--such as phones, PDAs, cameras, iPods and laptops--while preserving the sensitive information they may contain. The company's premium service will even replace the device, if it is not recovered. Yougetitback estimates 75 percent of its lost or stolen devices registered and tagged with the company's labels are returned to their owners.

Here's how Mobile Superhero works for a mobile phone. (Currently available for  BlackBerry and Symbian OS phones)

Yougetitback software is preloaded or downloaded to the user's mobile phone; the user creates an account at Yougetitback.com.  If a protected mobile phone is lost or stolen, the user logs into his or her Yougetitback.com account and remotely locks the phone by simply clicking a button. Within seconds, the mobile phone is locked. Now the only thing a finder can do with the device is call the Yougetitback service to report finding the phone.

The finder is prevented from seeing any of the e-mails, contact details, text messages, photos or other personal information like credit card numbers stored on the phone. The finder is also unable to access any of the mobile commerce applications on the phone like mobile banking or mobile payments. No outgoing call can be made from the phone except to the Yougetitback service.

The owner can retrieve contacts from the lost phone remotely by simply clicking another button on the Web site.

Finders can contact Yougetitback by using the found phone to call Yougetitback or going online to www.yougetitback.com and clicking on "I found something." Yougetitback will then facilitate getting the phone back to its owner, making it extremely easy for the finder to do the right thing. If owners need to replace their lost or stolen phones, their contacts can be restored remotely from the Superhero vault.

Device owners can also purchase adhesive security tags at the Yougetitback Web site for each device to be protected. The tags include a unique number for each device, along with a toll-free phone number and a link to a Web site through which a find can be reported. Protection lasts three years.

Consumers can purchase the software for $20 per year. A current online promotion offers a one-month free trial. Tags can also be purchased separately for $10 for three-year protection. A 30-Day free trial version is available for download.

Yougetitback.com also offers a premium service that provides a full replacement of the device if the software and tag are not successful. Details on covered devices are available at Yougetitback.com. Phones covered include BlackBerry operating system 4.2 and above, Symbian operating system S60 2^nd and 3^rd editions. A version of Mobile Superhero is currently being developed for the Apple iPhone.

Yougetitback offers a similar service for laptops called "Laptop Superhero," which can be preloaded on laptops or downloaded from Yougetitback.com. The service initially is available for Windows XP and soon for Windows Vista.