Bluetooth is the most prefferred wireless technology to connect devices over short ranges. More so with mobile phones as the hardware is pretty economical and has been available on mobile phones for a considerable time now. As one might expect, there are tons of bluetooth compatible acessories for mobile devices, with bluetooth headsets leading the list.

As with any convenient technology, misuse of technlogy is a major concern for users. Unauthorized bluetooth access is a major security risk today. Fortunately, you don't have lose sleep over this issue as there is an application from symbianguru to control bluetooth data connections on symbian phones. BT guard, as symbian guru describes it, is "a security application that automatically switches your bluetooth off. This saves your phone from BT attacks and unwanted Bluetooth connection requests." BT guard v2.2 is fully compatible with s60 5th edition devices and is optimized for finger touch browsing. BT guard v2.2 is a paid application costing USD 9.99 and lets see if the software is worth the investment for our 5800s.

Installation

The trial version of BT guard v2.2 can be downloaded from the official website of symbianguru. The trial version is valid for 10 days, after which you will be prompted to buy a license code, to continue using the application. Installation is pretty breezy and is completed with a minimum number of clicks. One of the better features of this application is its support for other languages: Italian, German, Russian and Ukranian besides English. The user will be prompted for the language of their choice prior to installation.

Features

BT guard has a comprehensive set of customization options letting users tailor fit the settings to their liking. One can auto start the application on phone boot and set the time lag after which the user wishes to turn off  bluetooth. The users can even set the application to notify before disconnecting  bluetooth after the defined period of inactivity. If you dont wish to turn off bluetooth after the defined period of inactivity. there is an option to set bluetooth to invisible mode in "Set BT to". Please note that in invisible mode, users can still use all bluetooth functions except for receiving files. Hence by being in invisible mode,  your mobile phone will not be subjected to bluetooth attacks and requests from unidentified sources. While a better option will be to set it off after the period of inactivity, invisible mode may be benefecial when users use bluetooth regularly. When bluetooth data connection is in progress, there will be no action taken as per the default setting but users can change it to "take action" which will turn off  bluetooth or switch bluetooth to invisible mode depending upon the setting set in "Set BT to"

Pros

1. Very easy to use and customize
2. Exhaustive customization options

Cons

1. Its more of an auto on-off switch for bluetooth than a security application

Verdict

BT guard is so easy to use  and customize that any cellphone user will be able to set and customize the application in no time. The customization options are so practical that I wonder why these options were not provided by default in the symbian OS bluetooth manager. When I read that BT guard was a security application, I was expecting it to be able to identify and reject unsolicited bluetooth requests but the auto on-off switch like features is effective as well. Switching bluetooth off  after the specified period of time has an added advantage of extending battery life. In conclusion, BT guard is a pretty basic but useful bluetooth manager for symbian phones and a must have for heavy bluetooth users.

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