Also new is a smart card API, which will let computer manufacturers add card readers to these handhelds, effectively locking up any data they hold if the devices are lost or stolen.

CNN: Microsoft reinvigorates handheld PC

Medicare, insurers and consumers will have to exert pressure, since individual players may benefit from locking down their own data.

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One startup called Lookout offers free antivirus filtering along with features for tracking a lost phone and locking or wiping its data remotely.

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