Norton Mobile Security

   In my continuous search for the best Android mobile security, Today I will talk about Norton. I have tested this while was on beta version and now the product is finished under the Lite name for the free version.

   From the beginning I can confirm that Norton keeps the same engine style which requires resources - the same as the PC version. And here I am referring to battery as lasts with  about 5% up to 10% less with this security suite installed. For the rest the Norton Mobile Security is a classic protection software with modules like antivirus for threats, anti-malware and virus prevention. It has an online scanner which notifies the user live if a downloaded application is infected and a remote lock which locks the smartphone in case is stolen.

   If you wish to upgrade to the paid version you get other three modules like web protection for your browser, anti-theft for location and wipe the device. Last module is call and text blocking which works like a black list application. Now I remember while I had this installed in the beta version that there was one time when my phone turned-off automatically as battery was very low. After charging and when I turned it on, Norton detected a new SIM card (and it was the same card) so was asking me for password. I spent about 30 minutes to remember the password (my bad here) and at the end I unlocked my phone. However during this time I was able to call my 3 contacts added as backup in case I forgot the password. This was great but I know that some users had to reset the phone to factory settings as they did not remember the password.

   Did I mention that scans the SD card together with the entire phone memory and that has a notification bar icon? In conclusion this is another mobile security suite for Android which users can install but personally I was not very impressed. It takes about 2-3 MB of internal space.

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Norton Mobile Utilities

   For some time I was looking for a utilities application for my Android phone. Symantec has released a beta version of Norton Mobile Utilities for Android about two months ago. I decided to use this as a replacement for a task manager but I got more. This application has 4 modules integrated - Apps, Usage, Device, Installer.

   The Apps module shows information regarding installed applications on your device and the location (if are stored in phone memory or SD card), size, battery percentage these use and program version. Also this is working as a task manager providing details on how many programs are running, which are system apps and which are external. Most of these can be closed using the 'X' button but will not work for too long or not all will be terminated. I believe this is because Android does not have a good task manager, at least not for the Froyo version. But I hope this will be solved as soon as I receive upgrade to Gingerbread for my HTC Desire. More than that there is the option to uninstall applications - even the system ones - but have not tried this yet.

   Next Norton Mobile Utilities module is Usage working as a monitor for how many minutes and SMS were used or internet traffic data from your monthly subscription package. There is the option for an alarm notification when the limits will exceed. The third module is Device which shows battery usage, phone`s temperature, CPU, memory, network and internal storage under live charts. Also if you click the 'System Information' button you will be able to check your phone`s model and product information, CPU minimum and maximum clock, OS version and sub-version, operator with service status and signal strength, phone`s IMEI, IMSI and IP address. 

   Last module is the Installer - working as an application installer manager. This will help you install applications from outside the Android Market but also to uninstall or delete these. What I like at Norton Mobile Utilities is - first that is a system manager integrating several useful applications, thus avoiding the installation of four up to five or more independent applications on my phone which could affect the performance. Then I like that is very efficient for battery life and I was somehow surprised as I was not expecting this given the fact that is a Norton application. The application is available as beta version for now but is working good and hope they will release the full version soon and also that will remain free. So if you were looking for a system manager for your Android phone I recommend this one.

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