Sprint's Total Equipment Protection App Locates and Locks Lost Smartphones

Have you ever lost a smartphone? While that's frustrating enough, what about all the personal information you have on the device, such as your personal contacts, photos and other private information? If you are a Sprint customer and take advantage of the company's Total Equipment Protection service that covers your phone against loss, theft and damage, there is no need to worry. Sprint just launched a new application to go along with the service - the Total Equipment Protection App.

Available now, the app will:

• Locate lost device by sounding an alarm on the smartphone even if in silent mode, doing a real time locate via GPS technology, or viewing the smartphone's location history on a map via a Web Interface
• Remotely lock their smartphone
• Erase contacts in the address book on a lost smartphone
• Backup, manage and restore contacts

The Protection App is included at no additional charge as a benefit of Total Equipment Protection plan, which is $7 per month, per line of service. It is available for phones using BlackBerry and Android mobile platforms. Simply download and install the application at www.sprint.com/protection. Privacy protection is also included. Each time the smartphone's location is requested by the Web interface, an SMS text message is sent to the smartphone notifying it has been located.

"Anyone who has lost a phone knows that their personal information is possibly just as vulnerable as if their computer was hacked," said John Carney, senior vice president of consumer marketing for Sprint. "Now, Sprint customers have peace of mind knowing that their personal and private information is safe. TEP and this accompanying application is a safeguard for customers who want protection from not only loss, but misuse and unauthorized access."