I left one very important item off my Samsung Galaxy Note II review. (And as soon as I finish writing this, I will be updating the review with a link to this post!) And that is Prey — an open-source software that lets you track (and potentially recover) your stolen laptop, cell phone, or tablet.

I know there exist tons of anti-theft software in the market today. What makes Prey stand out from the rest is that it is powerful, versatile, and FREE (for up to 3 devices).

Here’s what happened when I reported my cell phone as missing. I immediately received an email alerting me that it was marked as missing, and within minutes, I received a follow-up message with a link to this missing device report:

As you can see, what Prey does is to turn on your phone’s GPS — if not already enabled — and locate your device via Google Maps. (I have blurred out my location above for privacy purposes.) It also tells you the IP address of the network that your phone is on (also concealed in the screenshot above), and…

Did you notice the picture of the ceiling fan?

Yep, you’re correct — Prey took a picture using my phone’s front-facing camera, and included it in the missing device report! This is in hopes that if my phone really was stolen, the picture would be of the person currently using the phone.

Did I mention that Prey is FREE?

I have also added my laptop to my Prey account, and feel much better for it:

You can never be too careful these days — I’m constantly hearing/reading about my friends’ gadgets getting stolen, or being left behind in random places like the backseats of cabs.

Of course, the best way to avoid these situations is to be smart about where and how you use your devices. But the next best bet is surely to have a software like Prey installed before anything like this happens.

Do you use anti-theft solutions for your mobile devices? Can you recommend other apps like Prey?