find my ipad
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Nightline uses Find My iPad to sting sticky-fingered TSA officer
Oops! It seems the folks at ABC News set up a little sting with TSA agents and wayward iPads. Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well for the agent (warning: auto-play video at that link). The iPad, however, survived both the abduction and the "generous" pat-down. The news show Nightline intentionally abandoned an iPad at an Orlando, Fla., checkpoint (among others). They then used Apple's Find My iPad app to track its movements once it had been recovered. Unfortunately, it traveled to a TSA agent's home, where it remained for two weeks until a camera crew and reporter arrived to retrieve it from a much chagrined employee. This was just one story from an investigation that had Nightline leave 10 iPads at security checkpoints in major airports across the US. The full story will air on Nightline this evening.
Find my iPad saves Christmas
Here's a nice story thanks to Apple's Find my iPad feature. A family in California had their Christmas gifts stolen last week, along with several other items in the home. Seemingly unrelatedly, another man had his iPad stolen soon after, and he called the police to report the theft. He was able to track his iPad via Apple's Find My iPad service, and when the cops went to the home where it was being tracked from, they not only found the stolen iPad and the thief, but the family's Christmas presents as well. According to the police report, the family had already purchased replacement presents, but that didn't make them any less happy to hear that the original gifts had been found. The iPad was also returned to its owner, making for a happy ending for everybody. Everybody except the thief, that is. He's currently in jail on a $20,000 bond and will presumably face trial for the theft. Serves him right.
Find my iPhone to be free in iOS 4.2 for current-gen devices
Update: As pointed out by Aulia Masna, the fine print on the free Find my iPhone instructions makes it clear that the service is only available for the iPhone 4, the iPad or the current (4th generation) iPod touch. 3GS, 3G and original iPhone owners are out of luck; however they can still subscribe to MobileMe and get Find My iPhone as part of the paid service. There's also a grandfather clause of sorts: if you create your Find My iPhone account on a qualified current-gen device, you can then use that same ID to enable FMI on any iOS 4.2 device, which allows you to stretch back to the 3GS, 3G and previous-gen iPod touch at least. ----- The ability to remotely locate your iPhone is one of the most appreciated and sought-after features of Apple's MobileMe package. If you've been on a frantic Black Friday shopping spree, for example, and accidentally left your phone behind at an unknown store, you can quickly dial up Find my iPhone on your Mac to figure out where your errant smartphone is hiding. Once you've upgraded your iPhone or iPad to iOS 4.2, however, you'll be able to use Find My iPhone for free with the iPhone 4, iPad, and 4th Gen iPod Touch. To activate the feature, go to Settings. Select "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" and choose to Add an Account. Enter your existing Apple ID username and password, which is the same information you use to interact with iTunes. Free use of Find My iPhone is a significant competitive advantage for iPhones and iPads. It's a handy feature which brings great peace of mind to its users. Hats off to Apple for making it available even outside the MobileMe account.
Apple's Find My iPhone / iPad service now free, doesn't require MobileMe
We'd been sort of hoping Apple would just make MobileMe a completely free service, but it looks like we're taking baby steps instead: Find My iPhone / iPad is now free for iPhone 4, the iPad, and the fourth-gen iPod touch running iOS 4.2.1. As with the paid feature, you'll be able to locate your device on a map, lock it, display a message, play a sound, or remotely wipe your data from any browser or the updated iOS app, which should presumably go live sometime today along with iOS 4.2.1 itself. Like we said, it's a baby step, but hey -- we never say no to free. Update: Okay, so this is strange -- Find My iPhone is free for all devices running iOS 4.2.1, but you can only register for the service from an iPhone 4, iPad, or new iPod touch, unless you pay for MobileMe. Why? We'd guess it's to limit it to owners of the newest gear, but whatever -- if you've got an iPhone 4-toting friend you can totally get in on the action.
Find My iPad comes to MobileMe
Find My iPhone, a long-standing feature on MobileMe that allows you to remotely locate a misplaced iPhone via MobileMe's web interface, has been extended to the iPad. Find My iPad has the same features as Find My iPhone, including playing the little sonar sound effect with an onscreen message (in case your iPad falls behind the couch or something). Find My iPad also includes the same Remote Wipe feature as Find My iPhone -- so if your iPad is irretrievably lost, you can remotely vaporize all the data on it, thus ensuring that thieves don't get access to your contacts, credit card info, or embarrassing lolcat pictures in addition to your iPad. Apple notes that "The Find My iPad feature works best if your iPad includes both Wi-Fi and 3G, but it will also find your Wi-Fi-only iPad when it's connected to a wireless network." Translation: Find My iPad probably isn't going to work very well at all for the Wi-Fi-only models. It'll probably give you a very general idea of your iPad's location on Find My iPad's map, but without GPS capabilities, the Wi-Fi-only iPad will have nowhere near the specificity of the 3G-enabled iPad or iPhone. Naturally, just like Find My iPhone, Find My iPad requires a $99/year subscription to MobileMe -- though if you're already using the service for your iPhone and/or Macs, there's no extra charge for the new iPad-specific services. [Via Ars Technica]
