Absolute Announces General Availability of its Asset Management, Data Protection and Geolocation Capabilities for the Popular BlackBerry Platform
GARTNER Wireless & Mobile Summit, Chicago, IL., February 23, 2009 – Absolute® Software Corporation ("Absolute" or the "Company") (TSX: ABT), the leading provider of firmware-based, patented, computer theft recovery, data protection and IT asset management solutions, today announced that it launched Computrace® Mobile for the BlackBerry® platform. The new solution delivers asset management, data protection and geolocation tracking for the popular BlackBerry line of smartphones.
The launch follows a successful beta program that allowed select Absolute customers to test Computrace Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones within their live IT operations. One beta test customer, John D. Halamka, CIO, Beth Israel Deaconess & Harvard Medical School, commented, “I depend on my BlackBerry® to run five different organizations, $100 million in annual budgets, and 800 emails a day. The Computrace Agent enables me to track my Blackberry® via its internal GPS. Also, it enables my staff to track my location to an accuracy of about 20 meters. Over my 60 days of testing, it accurately tracked geolocation 24x7.”
"Our customers have the competitive advantage of being able to manage their laptops, desktops and smartphones from a single portal, helping to reduce operational costs and losses due to theft and inefficient allocation,” said John Livingston, president and CEO of Absolute Software. “We continue to extend our platform to ensure organizations have the visibility and protection they need to get the most from their investments in mobile computing."
Key benefits of Computrace Mobile
Reduced IT operational costs with the ability to manage IT assets from a single portal, the Absolute Customer Center, for the reporting of hardware, software and user information for smartphones and mobile computers.
An additional layer of data protection and increased compliance with government data breach laws through remote Data Delete capabilities.
Ability to track smartphones using geolocation and display the location on a map.*
How Computrace Mobile works
After Computrace Mobile is installed and activated on smartphones, it reports asset and location information every 30 minutes. IT administrators can detect hardware and software changes on the smartphone, as well as run daily reports to see its locations using Google Maps™ within the secure Absolute Customer Center. If a smartphone is lost or stolen, IT administrators can issue a Data Delete command using the Absolute Customer Center portal. Upon receiving the Data Delete command, the Computrace Agent on the smartphone permanently deletes sensitive information, helping to keep it out of the hands of unauthorized users.
Pricing and Availability
Computrace Mobile is currently available for BlackBerry OS versions 4.2.1 and later, including consumer models and all future models, as well as all Windows Mobile® 5 and 6 handheld devices such as the MOTO Q™, Palm® Treo™ and Samsung® BlackJack™. Computrace Mobile is available for purchase with an MSRP of $13.95 for a 1-year subscription through Absolute Software at 1-800-220-0733, or go to www.absolute.com for more information.
* Geolocation is only performed with the prior consent of the device owner. The geolocation feature is available for BlackBerry operating system versions 4.2.1 and later.
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