Got a tip for us? Share it...
• • RSS

'Find My iPhone' Reunites Owner With His iPhone

Wednesday June 24, 2009 8:12 am PDT by Eric Slivka


While many users have tested out the iPhone OS 3.0's "Find My iPhone" feature, which allows MobileMe customers to track the location of their lost iPhone, send alerts to the device in order to assist with recovery, and to perform remote wipes for data security, few have had the need to activate the system in hopes of finding a truly lost iPhone. MacRumors member happywaffle, whose real name is Kevin Miller, is one of those (un)lucky few, and the story of his iPhone pursuit has drawn considerable attention in recent days.

Kevin's story begins with a trip to a Lego convention in Chicago, where he left his iPhone behind in a "sketchy dive bar". Despite immediately realizing that he no longer had his iPhone and returning to the bar within five minutes, it was nowhere to be found. The following day, the chase ensued, with Kevin and his friends traveling around Chicago using a MacBook Pro with a Sprint 3G dongle to track the missing iPhone.

Between tracking the iPhone via GPS and sending alert messages to the device via the "Find My iPhone" Web interface, Kevin was eventually able to locate his iPhone and the bar employee who had it in his possession. Kevin's story makes for an amusing and interesting read, demonstrating the value of the "Find My iPhone" feature while also revealing a few glitches and showing just how many things had to go right in order for him to find his iPhone.
[ 59 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
joro
Posted: 35 months ago
I read this story when he initially posted it and while I want to believe its true, it sounded a little bogus. I mean running around a city with a laptop and being able to track down a guy in a group of people? :rolleyes:
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
jbgh
Posted: 35 months ago
phonecall
"hey mate i left my phone at your bar last night"
"oh no worries come pick it up"
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
RainbowOfBeans
Posted: 35 months ago
I dont know how you could call this story creditable when there is so little detail into the search and into the "Luck" part.....what was the hard part that if that one thing hadn't happened he would still be without his iPhone now??:confused:
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
yetanotherdave
Posted: 35 months ago
Who else was waiting for the "three white nerdy dudes" walking round a bad neighbourhood with a macbook out to get mugged?

Glad he got it back, but that could have made it a whole lot worse.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
Shasterball
Posted: 35 months ago
Lucky he didn't get hurt, but pretty entertaining!
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
joro
Posted: 35 months ago

Who else was waiting for the "three white nerdy dudes" walking round a bad neighbourhood with a macbook out to get mugged?

Glad he got it back, but that could have made it a whole lot worse.


Now THAT would have been funny. Imagine the guy looking for his iPhone, finding the guy, and the guy beating him and his friend up and stealing the MacBook. :D
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
SuperKat
Posted: 35 months ago
Congrats Kevin!
Would be better though if they were driving around town in a special little car like GeekSquad.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
mdntcallr
Posted: 35 months ago
apple ought to make a mobileme page login for mobile handsets, so you can login and control the find my iphone functions faster and easier when on the go. ie be able to use your friend's iphone/blackberry to send the notes to the phone, or track the phone.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
slu
Posted: 35 months ago
The most amazing part of this story to me is that there is such a thing as a Lego convention. Getting the iPhone back makes sense. That is exactly what the feature is designed to do.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
AforAndromeda
Posted: 35 months ago
hmmm.... not sure...

Anyways - I had problems getting Mobile Me setup and I cancelled it all. I'm not sure I want it back on my Windows setup.

Is the MobileMe the only route for this security idea, or is there another route.

I might have to 'bite the bullet' , but I'd like to check out options.

:confused:
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

[ Read All Comments ]