When RIM announced BlackBerry Protect, the first thing on our mind was “what will that do to SmrtGuard?”. SmrtGuard has been providing BlackBerry users with a similar service for a long time before RIM decided they wanted to eat their lunch and now that the Protect app is out of Beta, it’s a good time to compare the two apps/services. Protect is a great move on RIM’s part because it offers a great backup/lost device service for free, which adds a lot of value to the whole platform. SmrtGuard also has a free version, allowing users to dip their feet in the SmrtGuard pool before taking the plunge to the full featured version. So which offers more value?
From the chart, we can see that SmrtGuard’s major strengths are in:
- Remote Call Fwd (think leaving BlackBerry at home, but realizing at work – this feature lets users remote call forward calls to BlackBerry to another number)
- Call Blocker – no need to get another app. SmrtGuard got you covered.
- Export Backed up data to Excel
- Personal Guardian – One push panic button that twitters, email, SMS, and auto dial a configured number
- SmrtGuard has backs up more items
It seems if you’re really serious about backups and using a service that helps you find a lost device, SmrtGuard is the way to go. The fact that SmrtGuard is cross-platform is also a huge benefit for the modern gadget enthusiast. BlackBerry Protect is awesome because it offers a basic level of service to all users for free, and leverages the fact that it’s a RIM app to get the word out to more users. We’ll probably see updates and features added to Protect, but until it offers more features, we’re going to have to recommend SmrtGuard.
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