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Crooks Beware! Find My iPhone Tracks Down 3 Robbers

Last month, we brought you the story of how 15 year-old Dustin Simantob used the iPhone’s Find my iPhone feature to catch the thieves that had stolen it. The feature, powered by MobileMeMobileMeMobileMe

, lets you track down your stolen iPhone via GPS, change the home screen message, and even wipe your phone’s content.

If Simantob’s story hasn’t convinced you to activate Find My iPhone, maybe this one will. An unidentified victim was robbed at gunpoint by two men at 1 A.M. in Shadyside, PA. They demanded and took his wallet, PIN numbers, and his iPhone. It’s a sad but all-too-common story, until you get to the part where the man’s iPhone helped police arrest the suspects.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the two men, Bryant Rather and Brent Ray Potter, were caught with a third associate, Myron Knox, after the unidentified man used his computer to locate his iPhone at a Wal-Mart in another suburb.

The men, after using his stolen credit card to purchase items, then moved on to a restaurant and then to a gas station, where police detained them and charged them with access device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, possessing instruments of crime, as well as robbery for the two men who committed the original crime.


The Suspects: Myron Knox, Brent Ray Potter, Bryant Rather

With GPS technology becoming more and more prevalent, we’re hoping to hear more of these stories, and that they will make crooks think twice before committing robbery or a more serious crime. Find My iPhone is just the beginning of a new technology wave that helps us fight back.

via mashable.com

See? This is why I pay £60 a year for MobileMe !

1080p Android demo'd, set-top boxes prepare for a new master

1080p Android demo'd, set-top boxes prepare for a new master

by Richard Lawler

posted Aug 28th 2009 at 4:05PM


It is done. MIPS Technologies has demonstrated its enhanced implementation of Android running in 1080p via extended libraries to support hardware graphics acceleration and decoding on Sigma Designs hardware, a portent of set-top boxes yet to come. Of course, without any video or pictures or video of the blessed event (ISB Corp's previous OMAP based effort is pictured above) it's hard to tell why Android coming to TV is such a great idea, if its cousin widgets are any indication, there's a chance of being high on pre-release hype but low on desirability once it reaches the market. Still, the Open Embedded Software Foundation pledges to continue on shoehorning Android into devices beyond the mobile handset, but if it's shut down by a band of torch wielding villagers demanding the monster be put down, don't say we didn't warn you.

[Via SlashGear & LinuxforDevices]

via engadget.com

Am I the only one who can see Google and all its apps turning into Skynet before too long? They're going to take over the world !

Xbox 360 price drops go global on Friday, it's official

Xbox 360 price drops go global on Friday, it's official

by Thomas Ricker

posted Aug 27th 2009 at 4:53AM

Not that we had any doubt but Microsoft has made it official: Xbox 360 price cuts are coming Friday. The entry-level Arcade will remain at $200 while the top end Elite will drop to $300 from $400. The mid-range Pro (reduced to $250 from $300) will be phased out just as soon a they can eliminate stock. As a footnote to the announcement, Microsoft wants to remove all doubt about future project natal compatibility by saying it, "will work with every Xbox 360 sold today and tomorrow." So what's it going to be kids, PS3 Slim or Xbox 360? Blu-ray or Netflix?

Update: According to the BBC, while the Xbox 360 Elite will drop £30 to £200 in the UK, the price of the entry level Xbox 360 Arcade will actually increase to £160 from £130. Ouch.

[Via Reuters]

via engadget.com

From the Microsoft school of economics. In a recession, INCREASE the price of your product. Genius !