A while ago we pushed a new release that addresses some issues and also makes Prey a bit tougher.

• Screenshot grabber in Windows was replaced by preyshot.exe, a lighter version which is based on this code.
• The System Service in Windows now actually runs as the SYSTEM user, and calls programs as the logged in user only when needed (such as for taking the screenshot).
• Patching logic for auto-updates is now more fail-safe. Hopefully this will fix the issues we’ve been seeing on the mailing list. Another important change is that auto-update only will work if the device is not marked as missing.
• New Ifconfig.exe binary for Windows, which allows getting always the right Private and Gateway IP addresses, either if your Windows version is in english or not.
• Creating a new account through the Linux configurator should have problems dealing with strange characters in the password.

You can check the full list of commits over here.

That’s all. Happy hunting!

Hello everyone!

The latest and greatest of Prey is packed and ready to go. Codenamed “Solid Snake”, version 0.4 features two new modules, a lot of fixes and enhancements and some important code optimizations. If you wish to know how to update you can scroll to the bottom. Otherwise lets cut to the chase and see what’s new!

(More…)

Good news everyone. As of today Prey officially supports Wifi geolocation for Mac, Windows and Linux PCs. Check it out.

Original picture by Borya.

(More…)

We told you this had been some crazy weeks! Well, we’re happy to start off this new year with the announcement of the first mobile version of Prey. That’s right: Prey now works in Android phones, thanks to the amazing work of Carlos.

Why mobiles

Simple: because you asked for it! It was also the natural next step, considering that we already have Prey running on Windows, Apples, and penguins as well.

Why Android

Because we think it’s a good place to start. Google’s platform looks very promising (amazing phones are available and even more are on the way), the documentation is quite good, and they have helped us all along with the development — we were lucky enough to get one of the Magic’s they gave out last year!

What it does

Basically, Prey for Android works the same way as it does in Portables and Desktops. The only difference is that there’s no standalone mode (yet), and the activation is not done via the Control Panel, but by sending an SMS to your phone with any message you want. By default this is “GO PREY” but you can (and should) put something else that will keep your friends from pulling jokes on you.

The good thing is that Android phones are geo capable, which means that we don’t need to try to grab a picture of the thief, we can just fetch the exact current location using the phones GPS or by using GSM triangulation. And it works!

So basically, when installing the app, you can attach it to your current Prey account (if you have one) or you can easily create a new one from the phone. Then you set up the SMS messages for activation/deactivation and, whenever the time comes, you just send an SMS message from another phone to yours and the reports will start coming in.

If you then want to disable Prey, you can do so by sending another SMS (by default, “STOP PREY”, which you can also change), or by unsetting the missing status on the Control Panel. That’s it.

What’s the catch

None! As the Windows, Linux and Mac versions, Prey for Android is free as in free beer. Our goal is to have a complete tracking solution for all your different devices, so that you have a centralized location in which you can monitor not only your computers but your gadgets as well, phones, cameras, microwave ovens, who knows. This is just getting started!

How do I get it

You can scan the QR below, follow the link on the image above, or just look for it in the Android Market. You can find it by searching for “Prey” or browsing the Applications > Tools menu.

What’s next

Exactly what’s on your mind: other mobile platforms. We’ve already started playing around and hopefully we’ll have another one rather sooner than later. Right now we want to focus in making the Android version work smooth as silk, and see what response we get from our users. So go on, try the application out, and let us know if you experience any issues. While you’re at it, you can always take the time to give it a couple of stars too! :)

If you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask in the mailing list. Happy hunting!

Hello everyone!

After a lot of testing we’re glad to announce a new release of Prey, version 0.3.3, which will hopefully fix all the problems some Windows users were having with the reports in the Control Panel. There have been lots of changes (just look at the number of commits!), but the most important changes are:

(More…)

Hello everyone!

It’s been some exciting weeks since the release of Prey 0.3. We’ve received a ton of feedback and new ideas, and more developers are joining the team and making contributions to make Prey even better.

(More…)

Hey everyone! We’re glad to announce the arrival of Prey version 0.3, which comes in with lots of stuff under the hood.

In general we can say a huge amount of code was rewritten for this version, mainly to make Prey a modular piece of software. This allows us to have more control over Prey, we can detect and correct bugs much faster, and best of all, it allows more developers to start playing and developing pluggable modules to Prey to make it even better!

(More…)