Smartphone locate on One Action

Users of Samsung's Galaxy smartphones got a surprise Thursday morning as they were sent a random notification for its mobile tracking app. The notification, which some CNBC employees also received, was for Samsung's own "Find My Mobile" app and showed the number "1" twice, with no other information. Once clicked on, the mysterious "1" alert disappeared, and some users reported via Twitter that it used up a chunk of their battery life.

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According to Samsung, the notification was sent out by accident to a number of Galaxy phones as part of "internal testing. We can assure our users that this notification does not affect their devices in any way," the company said in a statement. The South Korean tech giant recently released a foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip, and people reported on social media that the Z Flip was affected by the notification incident, as well as some of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S series and its tablets.

Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. The three major reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—require a copy of the police report before they'll freeze it. You may also need the police report to dispute fraudulent charges made on your credit cards.

Find, lock, or erase a lost Android device - Google Account Help

Learn how to put a freeze on your credit file. Wipe it anyway. You never know what malicious app or spyware someone may have installed while the phone was out of your hands. To be on the safe side, reset the phone to factory settings. If you see an option to "erase everthing," make sure you select it. Before doing that, though, check the backups on your computer or cloud service to make sure that you have copies of all the irreplaceable photos and videos on your phone.

What to Do If Your Phone Is Stolen

Some phones give you the option of resetting their settings without erasing everything. Make sure you check the Reset Everything option. To reset an iPhone, go to Settings, then General, then Reset. Hit this and after a few minutes, your iPhone is ready to restore. Finding Factory Reset on Android phones is trickier because device makers tweak Android to their own liking.

For iPhones. These offer two pre-installed photo or video backup options: My Photo Stream and iCloud Backup, both of which are part of the iCloud constellation of services. My Photo Stream, a free service designed for sharing photos with other Apple device owners, stores up to 1, photos not videos.

But after 30 days, Apple deletes them. For iPhones, Android, or Windows phones. But each file can't be larger than 2GB. On Androids and iPhones, you may have to fiddle with additional phone settings to make the backups automatic. Get Ratings on the go and compare while you shop. Sign In. Become a Member. Remember Me. Not a member? Need further assistance? Please call Member Services at Subscribers only Sign in or Subscribe now! Forgot password? Check this box if you wish to have a copy mailed to you.

Find Ratings Cell phones. Before your smart phone is gone. Step 1: Use a strong screen lock This is your first and strongest line of defense. Some Windows Phone 8. Not all phones can receive the update nor support all of its features. While Microsoft stated that the Nokia Lumia Icon may be upgraded at a later date, the company stated that there will not be a second wave of officially supported devices. Microsoft originally stated that all Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8 and 8. Microsoft cited poor user feedback on the performance of preview builds on these models as reasoning.

Microsoft unveiled flagship Lumia smartphones bundled with Windows 10 during a media event on October 6, , including Lumia , Lumia XL , and the low-end Lumia The first Windows 10 Mobile build was rolled out on February 12, as part of the Windows Insider Program to a subset of mobile devices running Windows Phone 8 and 8.

As with the desktop editions of Windows 10, this initial release was codenamed "Threshold", it was part of both the "Threshold 1" and "Threshold 2" development cycles. The rollout for Windows Phone 8. On February 19, , Microsoft restarted the rollout of full builds for the first feature update, officially known as the "Anniversary Update" or "Version ", [77] codenamed " Redstone 1 ".

Like the start of the previous wave, the first builds were not available to all devices that were included in the Windows Insider Program. The Creators Update named after the equivalent update to Windows 10 for PC , also known as Redstone 2 , was first previewed on the Insider branch on August 17, It features mainly minor feature additions, including an e-book reader within Edge, the ability to turn off the phone screen when using Continuum mode on an external display, SMS support in Skype, SD card encryption, and other changes.

Microsoft stated that there were no plans to move Windows 10 Mobile to be in sync with the other Windows platforms just yet; media outlets considered this decision to be a sign that Microsoft was beginning to wind down active development of Windows 10 Mobile beyond maintenance releases, as development was no longer directly in sync with the PC version. The Creators Update was only offered to eleven existing Windows 10 Mobile devices, of which nine would later receive the Fall Creators Update: [85] [86].

In early-June , a private build, briefly deployed by accident by Microsoft, revealed work on an updated interface for Windows 10 Mobile known as "CShell" "composable shell" , an implementation of the Windows shell across device classes using a modular system.

The build featured a Start screen, Action Center, and Continuum desktop interface that were nearly identical in functionality and appearance to their equivalents on Windows 10 for PC. However, this iteration of the operating system was no longer backwards compatible with Windows Phone Silverlight apps. Reception of Windows 10 Mobile was mixed.

In its review of the Lumia XL , The Verge felt that the platform was "buggy and unfinished", and that its user interface was inconsistent in operation and felt more like Android mixed with few of the distinct design elements that were hallmarks of Windows Phone. It was noted that the OS still retained much of the performance of Windows Phone 8, and that Microsoft had made efforts to create synergies with the PC version of Windows 10 via its universal apps concept.

Continuum was regarded as potentially being a signature feature over time, but that it was merely a "parlor trick" in its launch state due to a lack of support for desktop-oriented interfaces among third-party software. The year before, Microsoft Corporation disclosed [95] information on sales of Phone Hardware:. On October 8, , Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore revealed that the company would no longer actively develop new features or hardware for Windows phones, citing its low market share, and the resultant lack of third-party software for the platform.

Microsoft had largely abandoned its mobile business, having laid off the majority of Microsoft Mobile employees in , [97] sold a number of intellectual property and manufacturing assets including, in particular, the Nokia feature phone business to HMD Global and Foxconn which began producing Android-based smartphones under the Nokia brand [98] focused software efforts on providing apps and services compatible with Android and iOS instead, and having since announced an upcoming Android-based device in the Microsoft Surface family. In January , Microsoft announced that Windows 10 Mobile will reach end of life on December 10, , after which no further security updates will be released, and online services tied to the OS such as device backup will begin to be phased out.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. See also: List of Windows 10 Mobile devices. See also: Windows 10 Mobile version history and Windows Phone version history.

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