Jan Vermeulen, IT journalist and web developer at MyBroadband, recently published Internet access statistics for South Africa, comparing desktop PCs, cellphones and tablets. From January 2009 to September 2012, approximately 90% of Internet users connected with desktops, while 15% used cellphones. Tablets entered the picture in 2012 and accounted for 8% or thereabout.
By October 2013, PCs and cellphones accounted for about 50% of access each. This trend is continuing, with desktop users diminishing and mobile Internet users increasing. Most modern smartphones have double if not triple the data and information of a desktop PC a few years ago. This means that the value of these cellphones is often underestimated. If you lose yours or it is stolen, you lose not only an expensive instrument but a great deal of valuable data.
Convenient protection
AVG, known to most Internet users for its highly effective free antivirus program, has released an app – also free – that can track Android cellphones. To access this app is easy. Once you’ve downloaded AVG AntiVirus and installed it on your cellphone, you create an account with AVG. When you log in to your account online you can then locate, in real time, the position of the phone on Google maps.
To give you even more peace of mind, the app also allows you to remotely lock your phone or even wipe out data on it, to prevent your private data from being viewed. Omri Sigelman, AVG’s vice-president of products and marketing of mobile solutions, points out that we have a responsibility to protect data.
“When you protect your device, you’re also safeguarding the data of everyone you know,” he says. Meanwhile, the AVG antivirus program protects your device against cyber threats – detecting and removing viruses and malware, while it monitors battery and data usage. AVG AntiVirus can connect to the free AVG Zen app to help you monitor your PCs and tablets in the same way.
Where to find it
The app can be downloaded from www.avg.com
See AVG Technologies for a useful video on the app.
