There’s no denying that the level of technology surrounding us these days, and the benefits and advantages that come with it, is truly remarkable – especially compared to what was available to us just a few years ago. It is something that has assisted us in our lives so efficiently and effortlessly that we can now (the majority already have) put ‘all our eggs in one tablet’ so to speak.
But what would happen if your tablet or smartphone wound up in the wrong hands, even for just a few minutes? To those in the know, the potential threat and damage would be unthinkable. To those not in the know, or to those who haven’t really considered the potential harm that would ensue, this article serves to help you plan for just that.
Lock it. Simple. Just do it.
You would be shocked at the amount of smartphone and tablet users who neglect to take advantage of this overly simple, yet eternally valuable feature, for the silliest of reasons. In an era where people are accustomed to instant access and gratification, adding a layer of ‘inconvenience’ for some people simply won’t do.
Yet what’s at stake from making such a flippant decision is enormous: simply as a result of failing to lock your phone. Whether you do this via PIN code, fingerprint or a personal swipe gesture, you minimize, in an instant, the risk of visual hacking, loss of privacy, and data/identity theft, which are all likely to come knocking on your door if you don’t do it.
Protect your Apps
To add a further layer of security to your device you need to seriously consider locking certain apps, in particular the apps containing sensitive information like banking, email, or anything that can handle online payments. Failing to do this could compromise login details, passwords, and more painfully: bank balances. Making use of a free app such as App Lock will achieve just that and give you extra peace of mind.
Make sure your network is secure
While it’s natural to assume the Wi-Fi in your local coffee shop is perfectly safe and secure, don’t be too naïve in thinking carefree browsing is without its pitfalls. The guy sitting in the corner quietly supping on his seventh espresso could be decoding pieces of your transferred data and forming a meticulous translation into what he then receives as a list of your passwords.
Using an app to encrypt your outgoing data, by giving you an alternate VPN is absolutely necessary if you’re going to spend time on important or sensitive things like Internet banking in a public place.
What to do if your phone is lost or stolen
This simple tip may seem a little odd, but could significantly increase your chances of getting your phone back if someone finds it. Simply adding a message along the lines of ‘Reward offered for return’ to the lockscreen could actually make all the difference. You could also provide a displayed email address underneath for someone to contact you should they find it. Naturally, this email address would be set up to serve this purpose only, and would automatically forward any emails received to your real email address.
If this doesn’t bring much success and you really want to shift up to a more urgent gear you could use one of the many device-tracking apps to accurately locate your phone. Having said that, if (like many people) you have a huge amount of invaluable personal data that you feel just cannot be compromised, you’re only last resort is to wipe your device remotely.
There are apps available that can do this, and obviously it’s essential that you backup as often as possible, but if the day comes where the unthinkable does happen, you can feel safe in the knowledge that erasing the contents of your device and restoring the factory settings completely, from anywhere at any time, instantly removes the threat and simultaneously restores your peace of mind.
Scott Woz is a freelance writer and regular contributor to www.for-sale.co.uk

We’re told the new Nokia N95 will take advantage of a Snapdragon 600 series processor, probably the Snapdragon 652 to be more precise. Apart from that, the Nokia N95 remains a mystery although we believe more info about it will surface as we get closer and closer to MWC 2017. Until that happens, we urge you to take this information with a pinch of salt.
The original Nokia N95 was one of the biggest blockbusters Nokia ever released. The allowed users to switch between a phone keypad and one for media playback. The phone also bundled GPS capabilities, a media player and Carl Zeiss lenses. The device was released back in 2007, exactly 10 years ago – so 2017 seems like a good year to launch a new N95 phone.
It’s quite simple really. Just don’t forget to write your passcode down somewhere on a piece of paper. Luckily users can provide an email address, so they can recover the account in case the password is lost somehow.
Therefore, if you forget your password and you have not provided an email address to disable two-step verification, you won’t be allowed to re-verify on
The software that I was most impressed with is the fingerprint sensor software. Not only is







It makes sense when you consider the Play Store is cluttered with mediocre apps hastily put together only as a means to attract advertising revenue and probably with little or no concern for user privacy.
It seems that up to 1 million of apps in the Google Play Store don’t follow this basic requirement. And it is mostly obscure apps with few downloads that usually break the rules.
However, it’s quite unlikely developers of these shady apps will bother updating their applications. Which only means the Play Store is bound to get cleaner and that’s a good thing.
The startup wants to release smartwatch build specifically for people who love games. They have dubbed their product Gameband and bundled it with a 1.6-inch AMOLED display with 320 x 320-pixel resolution and Snapdragon 2100 processor (similar specs to the LG Watch Style).
The Atari edition features limited edition Atari colored bezels and straps, as well as Atari themed watchfaces and more. Naturally the
The smartwatch runs a customized version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (not Android Wear) out of the box and comes pre-installed with other apps too including Calendar, Contacts, Phone Dialer, Weather, Alarm, Alexa (voice AI) and Music Player.
It reminds us a bit of the Minecraft Gameband with a lot more options. Now if you’d like to give the Gameband a try you should know the wearable is currently up on
Google has confirmed to Android Police that if the tethered smartphone has an unlocked bootloader, Android Pay won’t work on the paired smartwatch. Apparently, the Android Pay app won’t allow you to add your card data due to security reasons. So even if your smartwatch’s bootloader hasn’t been unlocked, you still won’t be able to use Android Pay.
The LG Watch Style is the first smartwatch that brings Android Pay functionality to your wrist. The wearable is also the first of its kind to take advantage of the services of