BAK2u Pte Ltd has officially released the retail version of PhoneBAK for Blackberry (PhoneBAK BB) during the New Year of 2008, and all the beta testers (including me) who assisted in testing the beta have been given a retail copy of the software for free.

But, do we need PhoneBAK at all? After all, when you lose your phone, the chances are that it’s almost impossible to recover it, right? And all you can do is whine about your misfortune and go to the nearest mobile phone shop to get a new one, isn’ it?

Not anymore!!

The beauty of PhoneBAK BB is that it allows you to recover your Blackberry when it is stolen or lost. Once the ‘happy new owner’ removes your SIM and puts in a new one, PhoneBAK BB will compare the SIM ID of the new SIM with the one registered, and as long as they do not tally, a SMS and email will be sent to a pre-defined mobile number and email address.

The email will contain the following information, the IMEI of the stolen / lost Blackberry, and the IMSI (i.e. the SIM ID), GSM Area Code & GSM Localization Cell ID. The SMS will include the same information, plus the mobile number of the ‘happy new owner’ .

With these information, you can call the ‘happy new owner’ to arrange for your Blackberry to be returned. And if the ‘happy new owner’ is not cooperative, you can always remind him that you will make a lost item report, and submit this information to the police. With this information, the police, with the cooperation of the telco, will then identify him. It will then be treated as a case of theft.

I doubt anyone will wait for the police to go after them once you make it clear to them the kind of trouble they will be in. (Even if they throw it away, that information can still be tracked with the telco and you can make that fellow pay for a new one.)

It saves you the trouble of getting a new Blackberry and removes the pain of setting up a new one again. The software will only cost you US$24.90 (no subscriptions or annual fees). Compare that with the cost of a new Blackberry, the choice is pretty obvious.

Installing the software is easier than a walk in the park. Just make sure you read the instructions carefully and don’t be an idiot like me. I had some problems with the installation and it’s no fault of the software. To cut the long story short, I had the wrong version of a Blackberry Desktop Manager, and an outdated version of the hand-held software for the 8700 I am using. (Incidentally, upgrading the hand-held software also solved the bad reception problem I had. Damned odd, but I know now the tech support guys at StarHub and Singtel aren’t fxxking me when they asked me to update to the newest hand-held software whenever I report a problem.)

Once the Desktop Manager and hand-held software were updated to their respective latest versions, installing, activating and configuring the PhoneBAK BB is a cakewalk. Frankly, I do not expect anyone to have the difficulty in installing it. And if you do, the nice customer service people and the existing pool of PhoneBAK BB users are always ready to help you. I can personally testify to the helpfulness of the Bak2U customer service.

For more information on PhoneBAK BB, check it out at Bak2u.com