A Blackberry Pickpocket Notification System

Crackberry Guy writes "Research In Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, is looking into offering a wireless device that aims to thwart thieves and ease the minds of those who are prone to misplacing their handheld units. According to the recent patent application, the new device would be carried in a holster armed with a wireless transceiver. The handheld unit could be switched to a pickpocket mode so that once it's removed from the holster, a wireless alert message would be sent to the user. Unless a user authentication code is input in a predetermined length of time, the device's data would be rendered unusable."

Comments

Re:I Don't Get It

[Jasin Natael]

It sounds like the Blackberry's holster, which is typically worn on a belt and would be very difficult to remove (especially with the paunch present on so many of the executives that carry them), would be equipped with a proximity sensor, or at least would receive a message from the Blackberry, which is measuring its own proximity to the holster. The holster could then vibrate / play a sound / flash to indicate that the Blackberry is missing and, if the user doesn't find the device within a few minutes and type in a cancellation code, poof!!

This is quite a good idea. An "Active Case" for your cellphone. Especially for Blackberries, which can be totally DESTROYED remotely. Not only can you wipe out all your sensitive data, but you can corrupt the firmware so there's a good chance the device becomes a brick. I wouldn't be surprised if, given gov't and corporate culture these days, a Blackberry appeared that could be remotely "detonated" to release an etching compound and eat through some of the circuit boards.