Apple offers a service called Mobile Me, which among other things, lets iPhone users locate their phone on a map and even remotely lock their phone with a password in case it’s been lost or stolen. Google Android doesn’t have that feature, but a third party app called iTag does the job quite nicely.
Basically, once you install the iTag software on your Android phone it will run in the background. You can login to the iTag web site to see your phone’s location on a map, thanks to the GPS receiver in the phone (assuming it’s turned on). You can also send a signal to ring the phone if you think it might be hiding somewhere around the house, rather than stolen.
iTag is currently available as a public beta, and the app is free during the beta period. After the beta expires, you’ll still be able to use the locate-your-phone feature. But you won’t have access to the premium services such as the ability to remotely lock your phone or even wipe your personal data remotely. Premium users will also be able to backup and restore their contacts online.
A premium membership will set you back $20 per year, although iTag is offering free lifetime service to the first 10,000 people that sign up during the beta period.
There are also some social features to iTag. You can share your location with other users or see their locations.You can also adjust the privacy settings so that it will never show your friends where you are.
You can check out a promo video for iTag after the break. It’s available as a free download from the Android Market.
