Mobile Protection While Traveling at Home and Abroad
Your phone is your life, and your life extends far beyond your zip code. You travel, explore new places and have adventures. And you document those adventures. You keep up with friends and family around the corner and around the globe, and Mobile Insurance follows you wherever life takes you.
We know that with all the fun and excitement that comes with travelling both in Cyprus and abroad and seeing new places, there are just as many risks that something will happen to the technology you take with you. In fact, recent data indicates that 1/3 of travellers have had their phone, or a close family member’s, lost, stolen or damaged while on vacation.
This presents a major problem since the vast majority of Cypriots say their phone is very important to have while traveling. It’s what 50% of travellers use to check in for flights and where 40% keep important travel documents like their boarding pass, itinerary, confirmation numbers and ID.
Before you take off for your grand adventure abroad, make sure you’ve taken these easy steps to insure your smartphone:
1. If you don’t already have Mobile Insurance mobile protection, check our website to see if you are eligible to enroll. If you are, read the Terms and Conditions to make sure you understand your coverage.
2. Once enrolled, log some air time on your device as soon as possible. This is as easy as making a phone call from your phone and helps us prevent fraudulent activity on your account.
3. Download the protection app. Apps help you get the most out of your technology. And should something happen, with just a Wi-Fi connection the app allows you to remotely lock your device if it’s stolen, sound an alarm if it’s lost, back up your data and so much more.
Don’t have Mobile Insurance Mobile Protection yet? Visit www.mobileinsurance.com.cy and choose your plan. Now go, and roam the world worry free knowing you have comprehensive coverage, no matter where your travels take you.
What’s Your Most Important Device?
If your house was on fire and you only had time to grab one piece of technology, what would it be? If you said your phone, you’re not alone…
While a device is just a device, I’d still be pretty upset if something happened to my phone due to the sheer inconvenience. A mobile device allows to remain connected to friends, family, clients, and social networks. It’s the tool that helps document the important moments of kids’ lives that can be shared with grandparents who live across the country, send happy birthday messages to friends via Facebook, interact with business associates and colleagues by responding to their comments, collaborate on work documents stored on the cloud while at son’s afternoon guitar lesson, and complete a job interview by phone while on a beach in Ayia Napa.
5 Places to Lose Your Cellphone This Summer
The summer is a time for exploring. That could mean traveling with your family across the country or trying a new local restaurant.
As a provider of technology protection, we know a thing or two about protecting your cell phone, including where it’s most likely to be stolen this summer. You may be surprised that the most common places are locations that you might find yourself while on vacation, including:
If you happen to be visiting touristic crowded areas, you’ll have to be even more careful when eating, shopping or traveling.
What is more, nearly 70% of people who had their phones stolen were not able to retrieve them afterwards, which could bring any vacation to a screeching halt.
CTIA – The Wireless Association offers this advice: “Know your surroundings and be cognizant of your smartphone use behavior. Similar to your purse or wallet, it’s best to not call attention to your smartphone and create an opportunity for a thief to steal it (e.g., leave it on a restaurant table, allow strangers to “borrow” it for directions, etc.). By knowing your surroundings, you may protect your smartphone from being lost or stolen.”
Beyond being vigilant and taking steps to reduce the risk of your phone being stolen, consider these general tips to keep your phones protected during your summer journeys:
How Hot is Too Hot? 5 Tips To Keep Your Phone From Overheating
As summer goes on, the temperature is warming up and your phone may not be able to take the heat. That’s right, your phone’s internal temperature changes based on the temperature of its environment. If it gets too hot you can have some major problems like draining your battery, melting your Central Processing Unit and battery, or causing a forced shutdown of your phone. When you overheat your phone, there are no guarantees that your phone will be able to restart.
To prevent phone overheating, we want to give you some tips to prevent a phone disaster this summer.
Tip #1: Avoid direct sunlight to your phone. While leaving it easily accessible may be better for you, it is terrible for your phone. Your phone catches light and heat from the sun and retains it, getting hotter the longer you remain in the sun. Avoiding direct sunlight and heat is the easiest way to prevent overheating your phone.
Tip #2: Turn off unused apps on your phone. Allowing apps you’re not using to run in the background runs battery and increases the heat on your phone. On an iPhone for example, all you have to do is simply press your home button twice and swipe the apps away. Closing these down not only saves battery but also decreases how hard your phone works, which in turn decreases heat.
Tip #3: Don’t turn your brightness up, buy a glare screen. Just the same as running background apps, turning your brightness up will affect battery, forcing it to work harder. Instead of turning your brightness up, buy a glare screen. You’ll be able to use your phone in the sun no matter how bright it is.
Tip #4: This one is simple, if you’re not using your phone, turn it to airplane mode or turn it off. Putting it in airplane mode will allow you to keep time and play music, but that will be it. These two options make it easier to save your battery and prevent it from heating up.
Tip #5: If your phone is already overheating, take your case off. If your phone is hot, your case traps the heat. Taking the case off will allow the phone’s heat vents to do their job fully without being blocked. This will help your phone cool down quicker.
How to Protect Your Phone on Vacation
The kids are out of school and you’ve been stockpiling your vacation time for months. It’s prime time to hit the road (or skies) for a well-deserved getaway. But before you dust off that suitcase, take some time to assess the protection of one of your most valuable travel tools — your smartphone.
Your personal travel guide
We recently did a survey and found that 77% of travellers say their phone is either “very” or “extremely” important to have while traveling. In fact, 46% of those surveyed revealed they use their mobile phone to research vacation information, such as destinations and deals. Other popular uses include booking transportation tickets, making dining reservations and using special travel-related apps downloaded to their phone.
Protecting your phone
It’s easy to see that smartphones are critical for summer travel. Since nothing ruins a vacation like a lost, stolen or damaged cellphone, be sure to consider these tips before heading out:
Dangerous locations
Protecting your phone also includes keeping it from thieves. When smartphone users were asked where they experienced the theft of their device, the most common settings were locations that you might find yourself while on vacation, including:
Tips to prevent phone theft
There are several steps you can take to reduce the risk of smartphone theft, including the following:
Back to College/University Tech Checklist
Back to school essentials aren’t cheap. According to the the U.S. National Retail Federation, parents will spend an average of $669.28 on supplies for kids in grades K-12 this year, nearly a third – or $212.35 – on electronics.
You hope purchases will last until next school year – or longer for those expensive gadgets. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case for high tech. 80% of all incidents occur within a year of purchase.
What’s a parent to do? We’ve put together the following tech checklist to help you make the most of your back-to-school budget.
#1: PACK THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY
Not surprisingly, the most popular devices for students include cellphones, tablets and laptops. Three quarters of students use phones and laptops at school with more than half turning to tablets.
When making your list for younger kids, consider that most parents say 10-12 years old is the right age for a first cellphone. By the time they graduate high school, two thirds call smartphones “essential” for school.
Review assignments for your child’s new grade. If they’ll have more research reports or need to include photos in lab reports, it may be time for a new laptop or tablet.
#2: PROTECT YOUR GADGETS
Four out of 10 parents replaced a phone for a family member in the last 18 months, compared to less than one in four for couples with no kids. More shocking, half of laptops and tablets won’t make it through two grades undamaged.
Several companies make ruggedized and/or water resistant models of smartphones and tablets, reducing the risk from a drop to the concrete or into the toilet. Screen protectors, cases and sleeves are also great options to protect phones and tablets. For laptops, set rules such as where it may be used.
#3: DON'T GET CAUGHT PAYING FULL PRICE
With the price of many phones traditionally spread over the life of a two-year contract, many parents are surprised to find the average replacement cost of a smartphone is considerably expensive after an incident. If you are wondering what it would cost to replace the phone you are thinking about buying or recently purchased, look for the full retail price (the price without a contract) or check your receipt for the price before discounts.
Of course, we believe one of the best ways to check off numbers two and three is to get a product protection plan powered by http://www.mobileinsurance.com.cy either direct or at your local retailer.
#4: Conversations Every Parent Should Have with Their Kids About Social Media
We’ve all read about the dangers of social media for our children. The stories of cyber-bullying are heartbreaking. The speed at which a child’s reputation can be ruined is swift. With thousands of social platforms on the market and more popping up every day, keeping up with your child’s social media activity could be a full time job, but it doesn’t have to be.
Having open discussions with your kids about social media can help keep them safe – even when you’re not watching everything they post online. Below are 7 things every parent should discuss with their kids about social media:
#5. GET CONNECTED
Most colleges are equipped with wireless access. Unfortunately, 60% of college students will experience tech issues while at school. 85% of these will be issues with connectivity*. Moral of the story: You may want to be prepared with an Ethernet cord in case you run into issues.
#6. PROTECT YOUR TECH
Your technology will become your lifeline in college. If it goes down, you risk the chance of missing class deadlines and keeping in touch with long distance friends and family. Surprisingly, 1 in 2 laptops will fail or be damaged. Beat this statistic with a product care plan from your retailer. It’s one of the cheapest plans out there and, on average, saves 50-100% of the purchase price if the product needs repaired or replaced. You can also file a claim on line and track your progress throughout the process.
#7. ON-THE-GO DOCUMENTS
Google offers a convenient app called Google Drive that makes saving, viewing, sharing, and editing documents easy – no matter what device you’re using or where you are on campus. The first 15GB of storage is free.
#8. MAXIMIZE YOUR LAPTOP
Sure you’ll be using your laptop for coursework and papers, but it will quickly become your movie theater, photo hub, and sound source to play your favorite tunes. Consider buying portable laptop speakers to enhance your dorm space.
#9. RELY ON APPS
Mom and Dad may not be there anymore to get keep you organized, but there are some apps for your tablet and mobile devices that can take their place. Apps like My Class Schedule, Mint, and Evernote will keep you on organized in class, on top of your assignments, and in line with your budget.
9 Reasons You Really Shouldn’t Live Without a Tablet
Today, that line between technology you can live without and the things you simply have to have is disappearing. Think about it this way: once upon a time no one “needed” a cell phone and now everyone from here to Timbuktu (literally) has one.
The next item to cross that line is the tablet computer. Tablets are fast becoming as essential to life as a four euro cup of coffee in the morning. Here are several good reasons why you simply must have one: