14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s brilliant “Find My iPhone” feature available exlcusively to MobileMe subscribers recently helped a woman in Atlanta recover not only her iPhone 4, but also her purse, according to a short coverage by WSB-TV.
The woman, who asked not to be identified by name, had her purse snagged as she was refueling her car at a local gas station.
The thief, later identified as Freddrick Glover, confidently opened the door to the woman’s car, quickly snatched her purse and took off, as surveillance cameras captured every second of the event.
A MobileMe subscriber and user of the Find My iPhone feature, the victim did not hesitate and called up a friend to help locate her phone via GPS.
The criminal was soon apprehended and the woman’s belongings were returned, albeit lacking one credit card which she immediately canceled.
Video coverage of the event is available here.
Location-based security applications generally do their bit, but none seems to be as efficient as Apple’s own Find My iPhone, which has helped find a considerable amount of stolen devices lately.
The service is available both from a web interface, and as a standalone iOS application which Apple offers as a free download through the iTunes App Store.
Those who lose their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad while on the go can simply install this free app on any other such device and immediately find the lost unit.
Victims simply need to sign in with their member name and password, and they can instantly locate their missing device on a map (as shown in the image available to the left).
Users can remotely lock the device to protect their privacy and, in case there is little chance of finding it, even remotely wipe its memory to permanently delete all of their data.
Those who simply misplace their iPhone in a rather safe environment can take less drastic measures, such as having the device display a message, or play a sound.
