This Computer World story on June 23rd shows that the “Find My Phone” feature of the iPhone 3GS worked to catch a thief. (And get the iPhone back.)
The title is “iPhone’s new ‘phone home’ feature helps owner nail thief” with the sub title “Texas man recovers phone in Chicago using Apple’s new MobileMe location feature.”
The Texan, Kevin Miller of Austin used feature to the thief who made off with his phone.
He was attending a conference called “Brickworld,” a conference for adult fans of LEGO. He left iPhone on the table after completing his meal.
But Miller had activated the new Find My iPhone feature of MobileMe, which displayed the device’s approximate position on a map.
He and his friends drove to the location depicted on his MacBook Pro. They called the iPhone. The thief answered a call to the iPhone, but immediately hung up. About the same time, Find My iPhone indicated that the iPhone was on the move, and then identified its current location as near a bus stop. Miller and his friends closed in.
The story finished with: “Some have wondered if Miller’s story was an elaborate marketing move by Apple. Miller denied it. “It wasn’t, but it’s as good an advertisement as any commercial,” he offered.”
Quite a story. See the full story here.
