For those interested in all things Android, I have some exciting news. AVAST Software has acquired ITAgents, the Austrian developer of the Theft Aware mobile phone theft protection and recovery system.
The acquisition strengthens AVAST’s technology base and gives us a hands-on security app designed for today’s Android-powered smartphones.
Security for smartphones – unlike the traditional computer - begins with securing the actual device and its contents. Normal PC’s just don’t get left behind in bars or fall out of pockets.
At AVAST, we really like the unique features and technologies incorporated into Theft Aware. Once Theft Aware is installed, it’s really hidden. Also, on rooted phones, due to the way Theft Aware is installed in the system partition, it can survive a "hard" or factory reset – usually the first thing a thief does is to clean up a phone before reselling it. This innovations give a solid base to useful features such as the GPS tracking and the text message alerts, helping people recover their lost or stolen phones reliably.
We aren’t the only ones that like this app, we just are the only ones that bought the company. :-)
Theft Aware 2.0 has gotten rave reviews from a number of IT sites such as Android Police and AndroidPIT.
But, Theft Aware 2.0 is just the starting point. More changes are coming as AVAST now has the newest version – not yet released - of the new Theft Aware app. We will rebrand and launch it in the 4th quarter of this year. It has some really nice and unique features that I will tell you about soon.
ITAgents was started by Reinhard Holzner in Linz, Austria. We are pleased to add him to the AVAST team and I am sure you will be hearing more about him and his security products in the very near future.