We wouldn't really say we "have it together" when it comes to remembering where we put our keys / phone / small children, so Apple's announcement of the
Find My iPhone service for MobileMe users came as quite a relief. The service just went live, and with a quick toggle of a preference pane in iPhone OS 3.0 the phone is fully prepared for all sorts of lost and found scenarios -- along with acting as an incredibly intuitive (if pricey) stalking mechanism. Find My iPhone works exactly as advertised, giving us a fairly good location estimate from within our lead-lined underground fortress, and sending annoying messages to the phone complete with sound, even when the handset is switched to silent, though unfortunately the sound is a sort of sonar ping that strikes us as incredibly difficult to locate, unless of course our phone is taken by whale. The only other problem is that both the location function and the message service took a couple minutes to track down our iPhone -- not a deal breaker, but we don't know what the hangup could be. After the device is pinged, a confirmation of the event was sent to our MobileMe email address. A live, enthralling video demonstration is after the break.
posted Jun 9th 2009 7:16PM
iFirst
you have no life.
I would imagine, seeing as it installed itself in my Control Panel.
iDouche. Nobody cares if you're first.
Also, the GPS lag is going to be there - it's the same lag with AT&T's FamilyMap service. About 2 minutes or so on average for the device to respond to a location request.
@webran61,
wut?
Mine was directed @ Liquid Fusion below.
iDiot...
Once I have my iphone's location, I'm going to get my Glock and 3 clips to go retrieve it.
@QuantumPhysics
That's your reaction to losing your iPhone? Pretty sure you should never have kids...
Did you guys notice how his WiFi connection dropped from maximum signal to just one bar after he tapped Ok to end the alert? Interesting..
zomg i lost my fail phone
seriously tho, very cool feature.
ps. low rank also the morons who respond to "first posts" you are only encouraging them, please just ignore them.
this is just an example.
Ha. The Pre is totally pwned. Na, na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.
Now every handset company will be marketing some "find their phones feature". I can't wait till they start sending out the bloodhounds.
Apple didn't do Find My iPhone first, they merely did it the best. Peace and love to the iPhone-haters.
@QuantumPhysics
Magazine.
Sucks that you *have* to have MobileMe to get this. Is it even that good of a service?
so what its Apples product, Apples idea so they have every right to make it mobile me only :)
Att also offers this for other phones with GPS but they charge you 15 a month to use it. So MobileMe is actually cheaper
I LOOOVE my MobileMe service, if you have an iPhone I almost consider it a must have. I use it to publish my website with iWeb, my email (which works flawlessly with the iPhone, better than Gmail as far as speed of notification) keep and share files for/with clients with iDisk, and best of all is how it keeps all my devices synchronized. I have an iPhone, MacBook Pro, and iMac and it automatically and seamlessly keeps all my pertinent information synchronized between the three of them. Add a contact in my iPhone, and as soon as I get home it's already sitting in both computer's address book (it even adds any picture you may have attached). Add a contact to my iMac and it's on my phone as soon as I check it - no manual synchronizing, no connecting any cables, it just works every time, on it's own. It even keeps my settings, bookmarks, mail accounts, and passwords the same as well. If you don't have an iPhone and use a Mac I wouldn't recommend it at all, just use Gmail. If you do though, and don't have it, you're seriously missing out.
I think MobileMe is great. I really like the web mail. This is just the icing on the cake.
@Utahnkid
so basicially for someone like me who only has one mac (which is only for production purposes) its serves no value for anything other than mail? Or are there other features?
Do you not have an iPhone as well? If not then yeah I would just stick with one of the other free services. iDisk IS nice, as well as the email and calendar services, but you can do this for free. It's really the auto synchronization that seals the deal.
If you have an iPhone and even just one Mac I would still highly recommend it though.
Hmmm.. I understand it's Apple's decision, I was just whining though.
When I really need to backup and easily retrieve contact information, I will definitely look into MobileMe. For now, I'm not much of a businessperson, I use the iPhone for leisure mostly (and some work/school stuff).
I also consider it a must-have (if you have a Mac & iPhone that is) for reasons mentioned above. I also use it combined with SpanningSync to sync the wife's Gmail calendar with mine - very handy for remembering birthdays, etc.
I didn't even know what "MobileMe" was. Googling says: "MobileMe is a service that pushes new email, contacts, and calendar events over the air to all your devices. So your iPhone, Mac, and PC stay in perfect sync. No docking required. And that’s just one of many ways MobileMe simplifies your life"
Sounds exactly like Dashwire for windows mobile, except dashwire.com is completely free. It's a little different though: dashwire syncs contacts, photos, videos, call log, text log, bookmarks from IE mobile browser.
I gotta say, its a great service when I lost my iphone at the airport on a business trip, I checked my mobile me contacts on my laptop and still had all of my business contacts that I have collected over the course of many years. Its a good backup for clumsy people such as myself =p, plus my calendar is there too :D
You could totally turn on "audio record" on the phone an stash it under the seat of your kids car and then you'd get a complete rundown of all the stuff that goes down as well as location.
lol
nice bible app.
Great feature, but it has been around for a while on WinMo phones.
Yes, most people know the ideas of find my iphone is not new. the only reason this is a big deal is the way the function is implemented such as how it can override the silent mode of the iphone and how the service is set up so it is easy to get access to it without going through complicated steps.
Shotta,
Exactly.
Franco,
It's even simpler to implement on WinMo.
And, you do not require a special app to access your phones data/location with, simple email or SMS access will suffice.
Oh, and many of the WinMo tracker apps are FREE.
Great. The problem is, WinMo is shite.
@Paul
No it's not.
Well, now, what a compelling argument. I've changed mind. WinMo is not shite.
Just trying to match the quality of your initial statement.
You are very typical of people that like Apple products.
@patriotsn1, typical he's their spokesman.
Well I sure hope they are paying him! Otherwise he has a very sad meaningless life...
if you want to see if your girlfriend is cheating on you, hide your iphone in her car and then "find my iphone"! lol.
As much of a troll paul is, he does have a valid point. Windows mobile is a horrible OS for a majority of non-businessmen. Most people don't like using computers that much, what makes you think they'd want to go back to what essentially is windows 98.
A couple of months ago I had to choose between the iphone 3g and the touch pro from HTC. The touch pro lasted all of one day before I had to take it back. It loaded pages slower than the iphone, it's interface was convoluted and the only way to "fix" the issue would be to install a cooked ROM. While I may know how to do that, the average person doesn't. Also installing a cooked ROM is not anything like a jailbreak for the iphone. I jailbroke my 3g in less than 5 minutes and when I later had to take it into apple store ( headphone jack went wonky ) I was back to default in less than 3 minutes.
I have an xbox 360.
I have a Zune ( and I believe it beats the ipod classic ).
I use windows xp, windows vista and windows 7 ( I use windows 7 over OS X )
In spite of all this microsoft's windows mobile is like internet explorer. Old, obsolete, and quickly being replaced by superior alternatives ( pre-OS etc. ).
@ andi
"most people dont like using computers"
source???
Idiot.
I'm a WIndows person but find that the very stagnant WinMo experience on my HTC Advantage and HTC Fuze have me looking at alternatives. For example, without TouchFLo on the Fuze, the screen is unusable without a stylus -- why is it taking so long for Microsoft to implement a newer more touch friendly environment? Playing with the current iPhone at the store allowed me to compare it with the Fuze. I was quite impressed.....
Whats that phone looking icon next to the wifi icon in the status bar?
I have call forwarding on to my Pre.
Whoa! That would've been nice to have that icon there in 2.0... I accidentally left call forwarding on a number of times. Friggin hell.
"I have call forwarding on to my Pre."
Hahaha.
Can you then forward those iPhone calls from your Pre back to the iPhone? Curious what would happen.
Aww you guys totally ripped off my tweet! http://twitter.com/franktinsley/status/2094911327
LOL, yours is funnier. Achmid the Dead Terrorist FTW!
they should make it so that you can remote pin lock it to a custom pin from the net and then have it play the ringer and show the message every minute until you type in the pin.
why does it take so long? I thought At&t had the fastest 3G network ;)
At the end of 2009 if we're lucky then at 7.2 megabytes download speed then it might be but it's AT&T we're talking about here
it's 7.2 megabits/sec. I figure even the current 3G network could send a simple message like that faster, heck sending a text would be faster funny enough.
Yeah. I don't know what the deal is there. As much as AT&T drops the ball, this one doesn't strike me as their drop. Let's keep the pitchforks aimed at them for delayed MMS and tethering for now.
let me get this straight, you're PAYING for this?
They are already getting raped on the service plan and a nominal upgrade, so what's another $99/year fee...
They are already getting raped on the service plan and a nominal upgrade, so what's another $99/year fee...
Well now we know that Engadget is one of the 3 people who have Mobile Me. My friend is the second one, so I bet the third is Steve?
This app still pales in comparison to SmartPhoneTracker and/or WhereIsMyPhone for Windows Mobile.
Those operate in stealth mode, can pinpoint it to the exact location with GPS data and interface with Google Maps to give you the EXACT address and/or location of the phone.
They can also be used via SMS or email, so no proprietary apps are needed to access your phone if its ever lost or stolen.
Simply send an SMS or Email to your WinMo phone, and have the apps track it for you, then its up to you on what course of action you want to take if/when found.
Much more precise and more methods of tracking than this iphone method.
Oh, and best of all, SmartPhoneTracker for WinMo is absolutely FREE.
Yes, FREE.
So is phonelocator.mobi for S60.
Another 'innovative' service that someone else did first and for nothing!
Mark,
Yes indeed, another great example.
However, as is par for the course, most Apple fanboys won't know any better and naturally assume that Apple did it first or better when their implementation is half ass compared to some of the other tracker apps already on the market for other platforms.
They are already getting raped on the service plan and a nominal upgrade, so what's another $99/year fee...
(I just thought you might want me to repeat this one more time.)
"They can also be used via SMS or email, so no proprietary apps are needed to access your phone if its ever lost or stolen."
Please enlighten as to what "proprietary apps" Find My iPhone uses.. If you consider a website that any browser on any computer can access then you're right, it's EXTREMELY proprietary.
"Much more precise and more methods of tracking than this iphone method."
And how exactly can any other service be "much more precise"?? As far as I know the iPhone is one of the few devices that uses A-GPS (assisted GPS, as in it's not dependent on GPS alone but can also use cell phone tower triangulation). As I'm sure you're already well aware, GPS devices have to have direct sight of the sky to work or at least be close to an open window. iPhones can use GPS, cell tower triangulation, and known WiFi hotspot information to provide a location (AKA when it's stuffed under a couch in your friend's house it'll still work).
Can ANY other method on ANY other device force the phone to make a sound even if it's left in silent mode? An absolute must unless you keep a homing beacon on your phone. An address is great but knowing you're in the same building as your phone doesn't help too much unless you know EXACTLY where it is. Can ANY other method force a text message that allows any user, even someone not familiar at all with the device, to read it?
How many other services let you send a signal to remotely wipe your phone? Then let you re-connect with your computer when you find it to leave it exactly as it was before you lost it?
"However, as is par for the course, most Apple fanboys won't know any better and naturally assume that Apple did it first or better when their implementation is half ass compared to some of the other tracker apps already on the market for other platforms."
And yet again, as is "par with course", those blinded with hatred for anything Apple will naturally assume that other superior alternatives exist before they spend 5 minutes to learn what the hell they're talking about. I don't care if you loath Apple but at least do yourself a favor and know what you're talking about BEFORE talking.
You just don't get it.. *Apple* did this! It doesn't matter if every other major phone platform can do it better and cheaper, this is front page news!
Bravo, utahnkid, you bring up some good points, but I haven't heard one Apple fan say this feature is original. So why do the Apple Haters always make this accusation? It's almost like they're terrified and must clarify that such and such feature is not original as soon as possible, because *gasp* someone might buy something from Apple!
But I don't think the WinMo/Symbian users get another more important point though. Most Apple users DON'T CARE if a certain feature has been on other phones. Those aren't platform they're interested in. And more often than not, the implementation on the other platform WILL SUCK.
Lots of phones had browsers before the iPhone, but with only one problem. THEY SUCKED! No one wanted to use it, so when Apple finally did it, they did it in a way that DIDN'T SUCK, thereby making it relevant.
"How many other services let you send a signal to remotely wipe your phone? Then let you re-connect with your computer when you find it to leave it exactly as it was before you lost it?"
Palm has that functionaly with the Pre. And it doesn't cost me an extra $100/year to use it.
I'd love if one of you could give me an honest, legit answer to this:
What's your problem? Do some of you have anger management issues or manic depression to deal with? Why do you act like Engadget owes you something or that you're somehow forced to visit the site? It's a tech blog that covers popular devices. Period. End of story. They figured out a while ago that if they cover popular tech/gadget related subjects they can get people to regularly visit their site and the more people that do just that, the more money they can convince advertisers to pay up for a spot on their site to advertise with.
Whether you like it or not, the iPhone is an incredibly popular device. That's not up for argument, and it's no my opinion, so get over it. I know you have an entire book of reasons that "X" device is better and that "X" brand is superior, and that's great and all (seriously, take a couple minutes and pat yourself on the back because you're the ONLY person that cares) but the ruling is in. People like the iPhone and they like to read about it even more. Just like the Pre, Xbox's "Natal", PS3, Kindle, etc... If it's popular, and people will read about it, then expect relentless coverage from Engadget. If you don't like that, DON'T COME HERE!
"SmartPhoneTracker allows you to locate your phone via GPS coordinates, useful if your phone gets lost or stolen, and for locating missing family members. Basically, SmartPhone Tracker is configured to listen for a certain text message. When it receives that text message, the program will wake up, activate the phone’s GPS and obtain a lock. Once it has GPS satellites locked, it will send an email or/and text message with a link to Google Maps with the phone’s location and exact GPS coordinates.
If there is no GPS reception for 5 minute, SmartPhoneTracker will send the approximate Cell Tower location."
There goes one of your arguments. Read up on the products you're bashing.
@utahnkid
Please enlighten as to what "proprietary apps" Find My iPhone uses.. If you consider a website that any browser on any computer can access then you're right, it's EXTREMELY proprietary.
--- Just a wild hunch, but he probably meant MobileMe.
"Much more precise and more methods of tracking than this iphone method."
And how exactly can any other service be "much more precise"?? As far as I know the iPhone is one of the few devices that uses A-GPS (assisted GPS, as in it's not dependent on GPS alone but can also use cell phone tower triangulation). As I'm sure you're already well aware, GPS devices have to have direct sight of the sky to work or at least be close to an open window. iPhones can use GPS, cell tower triangulation, and known WiFi hotspot information to provide a location (AKA when it's stuffed under a couch in your friend's house it'll still work).
--- Plenty of devices use A-GPS. And if you took 30 seconds to google SmartPhone Tracker, you'd see it will provide a location via cell tower if GPS signal is unavailable.
Can ANY other method on ANY other device force the phone to make a sound even if it's left in silent mode? An absolute must unless you keep a homing beacon on your phone. An address is great but knowing you're in the same building as your phone doesn't help too much unless you know EXACTLY where it is. Can ANY other method force a text message that allows any user, even someone not familiar at all with the device, to read it?
--- Haven't seen any that will force a sound (doesn't mean they don't exist), but yes, there are lots of devices that you can prompt to display a message on the fly if they are lost. Been doing it from BESes for years.
How many other services let you send a signal to remotely wipe your phone? Then let you re-connect with your computer when you find it to leave it exactly as it was before you lost it?
--- You've got to be kidding...here's a tip, why don't you take your advice about spending 5 minutes to learn what the hell you're talking about, then come back and ask that question again. I've remotely wiped my iPhone before this service was made available, even.
Honestly, I see the value in MobileMe and especially the Find My iPhone service...if I didn't have an Exchange account, I'd probably be using it, but if you're going to tell people to learn what they're talking about, you'd best make sure you have a clue before flaming.
@Patrick
You siad: "--- Just a wild hunch, but he probably meant MobileMe."
In the case in which it was used, there IS not "proprietary app" needed to "access your phone if its stolen". Once your phone is stolen, you only need a web browser. The original sentence being referred to was:
"They can also be used via SMS or email, so no proprietary apps are needed to access your phone if its ever lost or stolen."
If your phone is stolen, its more irksome to be FORCED to find another phone, than it is to pull up a standard web browser on any computer. Even bringing up the idea of "proprietary app" is questionable, because the fact that Find My iPhone is simply built into the operating system, means that you can flip to the Settings... and flip a switch to activate it. No CAB files, installation, or headaches needed. You don't even need go uninstall anything to be rid of it.
While Find My iPhone needs to be activated to use the "location service", the iPhone needs only to have a MobileMe account added for it to be messaged, make an alert noise, or remote wipe. So, theives can't exactly hide from this reality, which should be comforting to users of Apple's service if not users of the other service.
The only downside I see, is that Apple's service may be easier to deactivate, if the thief knows what to look for. If they delete the Mobile Me account on the device, I'm not sure if that effectively removes the device from control. Also, disabling "Push" services might have the same result. Worth investigating.
~ CB
@utahnkid
First of all:
"What's your problem? Do some of you have anger management issues or manic depression to deal with?"
IRONY!
Secondly, this is a great feature, however others have done it before - so it's not innovative - and they don't make you sign up to a paid subscription service to use it. But of course, Apple will spin this as a revolutionary feature it's just more an more people are starting to see the gaping holes in their arguments (Schiller's 75 million OS X users is a classic, for example, as is the omission of WinMo from app numbers).
Can Engadget do a demo of the similar service available from Sprint? I'd love to see a feature comparison, e.g. showing how Sprint lets you see the location history.
If you have a WinMo phone, then just use SmartPhoneTracker or WhereIsMyPhone.
See my post above.
Or, just let it stay lost/stolen and get yourself an iPhone/Pre.
I doubt calling the thief a jerkface will get him/ her to return your iPhone....
Does this work with replaced SIM card and/or changed IMEI?
i had the same question! if it doesnt, why would someone steal your phone and still have your sim inside for you to track it down?
I didn't have to toggle anything on my phone. It worked automatically.
Why is this getting any attention when other phones have had this for years? Is that fact that the iphone has been behind for so long really that noteworthy??
I may have missed the headline, but has Engadget put up the Copy/Paste news story yet too, or .... ?
I may have missed it, but has any Apple Haters bitched about Apple stories today? Because that would be totally original.
"Because that would be totally original"
Unlike all of the new "features" found on the Iphone 3GS
I bet you guys are going to have some rage filled sleepless nights when this new iPhone sells like gangbusters again. And you'll no doubt blame it on the marketing again.
While watching the delay I was thinking "I appreciate that they didn't cut the video to make it look faster than it is, but this is sorta boring..." .. and then the 1:24 cut. heh.
Cool features, though I note the device was never located (sure it was indoors, but wouldn't it use the "a" part of the "aGPS"?)...
... and not enough to get me to pay for MobileMe.
Is this really news worthy, engadget?
I don't know how your reporting bias could be any more obvious.
Yes, because you're commenting on it, thereby making it completely relevant. Gotcha, bitch!
So this is just an "it's 11PM, do you know where your children are" feature right? Happy birthday, daughter of mine, I got your a brand new iPhone *cough*whichIwillusetotrackyoureverymovement*cough*!
I can imagine this feature showing up on 24 soon... just as the baddies get away, Jack Bauer throws his iPhone on their truck, then proceeds to track them using MobileMe.... sorry, I couldn't help it.
24 is sponsored by Sprint, not AT&T.
Worked almost instantaneously for me on my original iPhone.
I wonder if the app still works on a jailbraked iPhone and or re image of the iPhone. I know on all my WinMo phones which I use currently you can simply get rid of SmartPhoneTracker by a hard reset or simply cooking up a new rom and flashing it to the device. So it still is quite easy for a knowledgeable thief to still use the phone. Really easy on the iPhone to because it is GSM.
Not so easy if you put a password and turn on the erase option after 10 tries. :)
Yah. But most thieves are dumb as fuck.
Those that aren't don't bother stealing iPhones.
i dont think anybody is going to give the guy back his phone by calling someone jerkface lol
Naturally this needs to be an Apple product to run in the background .. other phones with multi-tasking and dare I say it "open" operating systems have had this for a while .. eg http://phonelocator.mobi for s60 devices.
@ Quantumphysics Glocks use magazines, not clips! As a fireamrs instructor I can tell you that there's a difference....
Jerkface is the most geeky of insults. I love it.
Novelty service:
only good feature is the remote restore option (i.e. the data-bomb, erase everything). Of course, I see hackers working on a spoof/spam/trojan to accidentally send a data-bomb to your phone (click this link or send an SMS). Imagine a mobile virus floating around that cause everyone's phone to run the data-bomb... classic!
Otherwise, any thief in their right mind would do a phone restore, chuck your SIM card, sick in a AT&T Go! SIM and sell it on ebay. Done. This feature does nothing aside from giving you the remote restore option. And like I'm going to figure out where my phone is from GPS *indoors* in a building. Yeah right.
And from the video: wow, that looked like an typical IM. Apple just "remote messaging", also known as IM or SMS.
Anyone put ethereal on that link yet?
That's why it beeps, moron
I think it's cool, but I have a few doubts;
1. what happens if the iPhone is put into airplane mode, or turned off?
2. Can't this be accomplished by a third party app with push notifications?
"the phone is fully prepared for all sorts of lost and found scenarios".....................................Yeah, except getting it replaced with another one when you do lose it for anything less than full retail.....
Hahaha, "but...we'll..just trust them on that one"