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Thieves: Beware the iPhone

Thieves may be starting to have second thoughts about stealing iPhones thanks to Apple's ingenious Find my iPhone feature that it enabled in iPhone OS version 3.0.
Written by Jason D. O'Grady, Contributor

Thieves may be starting to have second thoughts about stealing iPhones thanks to Apple's ingenious Find my iPhone feature that it enabled in iPhone OS version 3.0.

Find my iPhone requires that you have a $99 MobileMe account, but could pay dividends if you ever lose your iPhone -- or get robbed.

That what happened to an unidentified map in suburban Pittsburgh who was robbed at gunpoint by two assailants that demanded his wallet, PIN number and iPhone. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the victim logged into his MobileMe account after being held up and was able to pinpoint his iPhone's exact location on a handy map.

The victim gave the map information to local police who were able to apprehend the duo at a Wal-Mart where they purchased items with his stolen credit card.

On your iPhone's Home screen:

  1. Tap Settings
  2. Tap Mail, Contacts, and Calendars
  3. Make sure Fetch New Data is set to Push
  4. Select your MobileMe account and turn on Find My iPhone

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