As a logical extension of their Find My iPhone service, Apple has switched on support for Find My Mac on iCloud. The service is quite similar to Find My iPhone, but triangulates your Mac’s position by using Wi-Fi hotspots instead. In addition to having an active iOS Developer account, you need to also be running OS X Lion 10.7.2 and iCloud for Mac Beta 5 to test out the feature.
The feature can be activated via the iCloud settings on an iOS device and via the Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane under OS X Lion. The interface is simple and intuitive; you get a list of all your iOS devices that have the service enabled and a Google Maps interface that lets you locate them. Once your device has been located, you can send an audible alert message, lock the device or remotely wipe it’s contents all from iCloud’s web interface. You also get an email alert once the message has been successfully delivered to the device.
The service works as advertised; I was able to successfully locate and send messages to both my Mac and my iPhone. In a world where theft is an increasingly material concern for everyone, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
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