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Windows Phone 7's 'Find My Phone' feature teased in Microsoft video
And then, there were three. Apple's Find my iPhone introduced a rather compelling idea -- one that involves locating your phone by tapping into the GPS lock that it was holding onto in someone else's arms. A few weeks back, Big Red announced a similar service for VZW-branded BlackBerry, webOS and Android phones, and now that Windows Phone 7 is making its red carpet reveal, we're learning that Microsoft's newest mobile OS has similar functionality baked in. The feature is teased in a new Microsoft video that shows off the cloud functions of WP7, which also demonstrates the phone staying in sync with contacts added on the PC, playing Xbox LIVE with friends and shooting an image on the phone just moments before viewing it on a Windows 7 laptop. We're hoping to get a better idea of how the handset recovery system works (and how much it'll cost) a bit later in the day, but for now that aforementioned video is embedded just past the break. Update: AT&T has affirmed that this feature will be completely free of charge for WP7 handsets purchased from it. We're still waiting to hear if it'll be free across all carriers / countries. [Thanks, JagsLive]
Windows Phone Live to offer remote wipe, location, and sync for your Windows Phone 7 device
See, Android owners don't ever lose their phones, so that's why they don't need this capability... right? Right? Hot on the heels of yesterday's news that RIM would be delivering a comprehensive remote wipe solution to BlackBerrys this year, Andy Lees is mentioning at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today that an all-new Windows Phone Live website will figure prominently into the Windows Phone 7 equation when devices launch toward the end of 2010. It looks like the site is divided into two, arguably equally important parts: a sync function, which lets you transfer photos directly from your phone (a la Kin Studio, perhaps?), move OneNote content, synchronize contacts, and so on, and a suite of tools for dealing with a lost or stolen device -- you'll be able to remotely wipe it, locate it, lock it, or just make it ring until you drive the thief out of his gourd. On a related note, Lees is also announcing that we'll be seeing the first volley of Windows Phone 7 devices in five languages -- English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish -- and that Windows Phone Marketplace (the Windows Phone 7 version of it, presumably) will be available in 17 countries out of the gate. That's not what we'd call global domination, of course, but you've got to start somewhere.
