Q: My coworker lost her iPhone at work the other day. She was in a panic because she thought that someone had stolen it. Fortunately, someone turned it in later the next day. I thought I heard there was some way to find an iPhone if you lost it? Is there a way, and if so, how does it work?

A: Thanks for your question Emily, and you’re right, there is a way. Any iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad) that is running iOS 4.2 or higher has a feature called “Find My iPhone”. With Find My iPhone, you can see on a map where your iPhone is, remotely lock the phone with a pin number and send a message to your iPhone that will show on the screen like, “Hey! I lost my iPhone! Call me at this other number if you find it!” You can also make an alarm go off on your iPhone that’s pretty loud, even if your ringer is on silent. And, in case you are a spy or secret agent, you can wipe your phone and delete everything on it.

To find out if you have Find My iPhone setup, open the Settings app. Then, tap on iCloud (which is right under General at the bottom of the first screen). Then, scroll down until you see the listing for Find My iPhone. Make sure that the switch is turned on.

Now, here’s the fun part. Go to iCloud.com on a computer and sign in to the website with your Apple ID. That’s the email address and password that you enter when you purchase something from iTunes or the App Store. Once the page loads, click on the Find My iPhone icon. The web page will open to a map showing a dot where your iPhone is. Click on the dot to get a menu to play a sound on your phone, put it in “lost mode”, and erase your iPhone.

You can also go to someone else’s iOS device and download the free Find My iPhone app and login with your Apple ID account and do the same thing.

So, if you actually lose your iPhone, immediately go to iCloud.com, or find a friend that has an iOS device and download the Find My iPhone app on their device. Login to the website or app, then put your iPhone in Lost Mode and lock your iPhone. Make sure to remember your pin. Do this regardless of whether you think it was actually stolen or not. A smart criminal might remember to turn off Find My iPhone, and an innocent person might not be able to figure out who you are or how to get the phone back to you.

Then, if you suspect that you just lost your phone, click “Play Sound” and send a beep to your iPhone. Hopefully, someone will notice it and return it to you. If that doesn’t work, or if you know your iPhone has been stolen, call the police and tell them where the iPhone is. Then, of course, just, let them do their job.

There’s something similar for you Android users out there. Since Android doesn’t have a baked-in feature like Find My iPhone, you’ll need to download an app called “Where’s My Droid” in Google Play that does pretty much the same thing. With the free, full version of Where’s My Droid, you can send a text message to your phone with a special activation word that will make the phone ring at full volume and provide your phone’s location. You can also go to WheresMyDroid.com and use all of the features there.

With the paid, pro version, you can also remote lock the phone, and remote wipe the device and/or the SD card.

Also, if you lose your Android and you haven’t already installed Where’s My Droid, there is a lite version that you can actually install remotely just by going to WheresMyDroid.com. That version is more limited, but you can still make the phone ring at full volume and get the GPS location of the phone.

Image Credit: Niki Odolphie / Flickr

Q: I keep deleting apps off of my iPod Touch, but they keep reinstalling whenever the apps are updated. Why is it doing this? It’s driving me crazy. I want to be able to delete apps and for them to stay deleted. I am running iOS 6.1.3. My iPod syncs with iTunes on my laptop over Wi-Fi.

A: Great question, Lynda, and thanks for giving us specific details. It really helped us figure out what was going on here. We did a little research, and we found out what is most likely causing your headache.

Here’s what we think is happening. First, you installed an app on your iPod. Then, you decided you didn’t want the app anymore, and you deleted it before you synced your iPod with your laptop again. Now, the next time you synced your iPod with your laptop, iTunes saw that you didn’t have that new app on your iPod. So, in trying to be helpful, it reinstalled it on your iPod for you.

Now, what’s causing that to happen? Well, it sounds like you have iTunes on your laptop set to automatically download any new apps that you buy on your iPod. This is designed to make syncing your iPod Touch faster, but it can cause a problem like this to happen as well.

Lynda, it sounds like you’re going to have to decide which is more important to you: faster syncing with iTunes, or occasionally having an app come back from the grave. If it were us, we would prefer that our apps stay deleted when we deleted them. The only time where faster syncing would probably be important is if you were syncing your iPod Touch with a cable. Since you’re syncing over Wi-Fi, it’s doing it when you aren’t using the iPod Touch and it’s plugged in.

To fix this, all you have to do is open iTunes on your laptop, open the preferences menu, and click the “Store” tab. Then just unclick the check mark next to “Apps” under the heading “Automatic Downloads”.

If you weren’t aware of it, from this menu you can control automatic downloads of apps, music and books. So, if you want the music and books that you purchase on your iPod Touch to be automatically downloaded to your laptop, make sure to mark those checkboxes.

On your iPod Touch there’s a similar menu under “Settings”, then “iTunes and App Stores”. Play with the settings until you find an automatic download that works best for you. Hopefully that will take care of your zombie apps.

Alana wants to know why iMessage – a feature on Apple devices like iPhones iPads that lets you send text messages using your data plan rather than your texting plan – separates texts according to which device they were sent to or from, even though they’re all from the same person. What does she need to do to make sure all of her devices are using the same login information? The hosts of Deemable Tech, Ray Hollister and Tom Braun, help her out in this week’s Ask Deemable Tech.

RAY: Hi, I’m Ray Hollister

TOM: I’m Tom Braun,

RAY: and we’re the hosts of Deemable Tech. On the show, we answer your questions about computers, tablets, mobile phones and the Internet, like this question:

TOM: Alana sent us an email with the great title iMessage iAin’t iWorking. She asks: I thought that when iOS 6.0 came out iMessage was supposed to be synchronized between your iPad and your iPhone. I have an iPad and an iPhone, and my husband has an iPhone, but he has to send texts to either my iPad or iPhone. It doesn’t work on both. Did I read that wrong, or do I have something set up wrong?

RAY: iOS 6 did fix the problem, but it didn’t fix it automatically.

TOM: OK, first of all, for our listeners that don’t have iOS devices, iMessage is a text messaging system that works on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. It replaces text messaging for folks using those devices. So, your iMessage texts don’t use your texting plan, but go over your data plan instead.

RAY: The problem was that you had to keep track of which device you were messaging. So, for instance, I could send a message to my wife’s iPhone or her iPad, but not to both at the same time. And to make things worse, iMessage would show the message based on who sent it, not which device sent it. So, I would have two message threads that both had my wife’s name on them. It was really frustrating, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. The problem was that on an iPhone, you signed into iMessage with your phone number, but on the iPad and iPod touch you signed in with your email address.
Then, iOS 6 came out, and you could sign into iMessage on any device with multiple sign-ins, including additional email addresses and your phone number. So, that was supposed to fix the problem. Now, all your iMessages would appear on all of your devices. Except it didn’t “just work.” Everyone that I’ve talked to that has multiple iDevices has dealt with this.
But, fortunately, it is fairly easy to fix.

TOM: So Ray, what do they do to fix it?

RAY: If you want to sync your iDevices across iMessage, open the Settings app on all of your devices and go to Messages, and tap Send & Receive. Then, scroll down to the heading that reads “Start new conversations from:” Make sure that whatever sign-in you are using for that, it is the same sign-in across devices. If you have an iPhone, I would suggest using your iPhone’s number, but otherwise, just make sure you are using the same email address.

Also, I made the assumption that you are using the same Apple ID on both devices, but just to be safe, check and make sure that you are. The Apple ID at the top of that page must be the same on both devices. If it’s not, tap on Apple ID and Sign Out, and then sign in to the same address on both. Also, under the heading “You can be reached by iMessage at:” make sure that you have all of the same email addresses and phone numbers. If you are missing a phone number or email address on one of the devices, you need to make them match. Either delete it from the device that has it, or add it to the device that doesn’t.
Then, you should be good, Alana. Test it out.

TOM: To hear more answers to questions like Alana’s, listen to our show at Deemable dot com, that’s D-E E-M A-B-L-E dot com. There you can listen to all of our previous episodes and, of course, subscribe to our podcast.

RAY: If you have a question for Deemable Tech give us a call us at One Eight Eight Eight, Nine Seven Two, Nine Eight Six Eight, or you can send us an email at questions at deemable dot com. For Deemable Tech, I’m Ray Hollister

TOM: And, I’m Tom Braun.

Ever since the first time I saw the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank, I have geekily lusted for it. That was even before I owned an iPhone or iPad. After I bought my iPhone 4S I thought about getting one, but I could never bring myself to buy it because of the price tag. At $149.99, as nifty it was, I couldn’t justify it. However, when I saw it on clearance at Target for $49.98, I suddenly found that a hole had burnt right through my pocket, my money fell out, and the cashier scanned the box and took my money before I could do anything about any of it. So, ever begrudgingly, I brought it home to play with it, eh, um, *clears throat*, I mean test it for our readers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tKMw_jWzQ

After playing with it at my apartment a little bit,  I took it in to the studio at WJCT and really put it through its paces.

http://youtu.be/04L32cIsNW4

As you can see in the video, the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank is relatively slow, but it is a tank after all. It’s not supposed to be a race car. I assume Brookstone chose the tank design to minimize the abuse that a remote control vehicle faces. The delicate hardware inside might not be able to take as much abuse as remote off-road cars and trucks deal with.

As the title of the product blatantly states this remote control vehicle is controlled by an app, specifically an iOS app. The app works on iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. The only real difference between the iPhone and iPad version is the size of the app resolution. There are no Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry apps at this time.

The Rover is supposed to reach 200 feet unobstructed and 100 feet through walls, but I lost connection with it in my 920 sq ft apartment. So, don’t expect to use this thing in a large building or from a car parked outside.

The controls are easy enough to use, but just like any touch screen controls, it’s easy to accidentally slip off the buttons without realizing it. The G Drive accelerometer based controls work well, but only moving forward, backward, left and right. You can’t spin left or right. Also the accelerometer cannot be calibrated, so you must hold the iPhone or iPad flat to remain stationary and turn it away from you to go forward. Someone wasn’t thinking there.

The camera is surprisingly decent. It only shoots 320 x 240 but it works well in all light. The colors can be off. We found that blacks show up as blues on camera and vice-versa. The camera angle can be adjusted, but only manually. So you have to drive the spy tank back to you to adjust the camera. Whoopsie again. The infrared night vision is surprisingly awesome. Even in pitch black darkness almost the entire view screen is visible  The downside is that the Rover has two bright LEDs in the top, one blue and one orange. So, there’s no chance of it hiding unless you apply some electrical tape or open it up and disconnect the LEDs.

The Wi-Fi connection is built into the Rover. This is great because you don’t need to have a Wi-Fi network setup to use the tank, but unfortunately it means that you can’t connect to your router either. Connecting to a router could allow it to be controlled across the Internet and allow for greater range. Also, you wouldn’t have to switch Wi-Fi connections to run the Rover.

Over all, the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank is a fun toy. I was right to wait until it went on clearance. I would have been sorely disappointed if I had spent $150 on this. However, at $49.98 it was definitely worth the price. It’s regularly available at Brookstone for $99.99. It’s worth noting that Brookstone released the Rover 2.0 recently, and from the reviews at TUAW, it looks like Brookstone has fixed all the problems with the original Rover and gave it a bunch of new features. That might make it worth the entrance fee.

Apple has finally released iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile operating system that runs iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Are you ready for all of the iOS 6 goodness like built-in GPS turn-by-turn navigation, Facebook integration and Passbook, but don’t know how to update your iPhone to get it? Here’s what you have to do.

1. First, just in case, make sure that you back up your iPhone. It doesn’t usually happen, but sometimes updating your iPhone’s Operating System can cause you to lose your apps, files or your contacts. Backing it up will save you if that happens.
2. Second, open the Settings app, by tapping the Settings icon.
   
3. Next, tap the General menu.
   
4. On the next screen, tap the Software Update menu:
   
5. You’ll see another screen with a swirling circle while your device checks to see what version of iOS you have, and what the most recent version of iOS is.
   
6. Once it is done checking, you should see this screen:
   
7. If you don’t see this, something is wrong. If the Download and Install button is grayed out, you either need to make sure that you have enough space available to download and install the new operating system, or you need to connect to Wi-Fi. Read the instructions to find out.
   
8. Tap Download and Install, then tap Agree to agree to the terms and conditions. After you are finished downloading the update, it will prompt you to install or wait until later. If you don’t press anything, it will automatically install.
9. Now, if you haven’t already done it, as Glade says “Plug it in. Plug it in.” Find an electrical outlet and plug your iPhone in because this is gonna take a while. Also, go find something to do; A watched pot never boils and all that. Our suggestion? Listen to Monday’s episode of Deemable Tech: Cats on a Laptop.

Once it’s done, your iPhone should reboot, and you should have all that iOS 6 goodness. Why do I keep saying should? Because I’m doing it right now! I’ll let you know when mine finishes. Let me know in the comments below if you beat me.

6:24 PM EST – Done!

After the installation you’ll get the classic reboot screen, black background with a silver Apple logo, with a progress bar. The logo seemed to have a glow behind it that pulsed, which reminded me of the Palm webOS boot screen I don’t know why, but I got two progress bars. It filled up, then it emptied and filled up again. Finally, it opened to the lock screen.

After my iPhone verified the update, I got an Update Complete screen, then it asked for my Apple ID password to sign me into FaceTime, iCloud and iMessage.

I was then asked to sign another Term and Conditions, this time for iCloud. After I tapped Agree, they asked me again, just to make sure I was certain.

Finally, it asked for my FaceTime and iMessage contact numbers and email addresses. One of the features of iOS 6 was integrating your contacts on iMessage and FaceTime so that you can be contacted on any device just by knowing one of the contacts. I verified the addresses and phone numbers.

Finally, I’m done!

Now to play with my new toy. Well, at least my old toy with a new operating system and new features. I’ll try to get a review written up by Thursday or Friday at the latest. Have fun updating to iOS 6!

After the obligatory months and months of iPhone rumors, Apple has finally announced its latest smartphone, the iPhone 5. If you were waiting with bated breath for something new and exciting, go watch the iOS 6.0 announcement from WWDC back in June. The only really exciting features in the new iPhone 5 are the features that come with iOS 6.0, which is coming to the iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S on September 19th. In fact, I can sum up the differences between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 in under sixteen words: it’s a little bit taller, a little bit lighter, a little bit thinner, and it’s faster. That’s it. Oh, and it has a new connector that doesn’t work with any of the accessories you already have, but you’ll be able to buy an adapter. The only thing that the iPhone 5 can do that the iPhone 4S can’t do, other than showing an extra bar of icons, is take pictures while I’m shooting video. I guess that’s kinda cool.

OK, so yes, there are more things about the iPhone 5 that are different than the iPhone 4S, but not much that is going to impress the average consumer. The new 4″ screen is 1136-by-640 resolution instead of the 960-by-640 resolution of the 3.5″ that the iPhone 4 and 4S has. Since Apple kept the width of the screen the same, the new screen is now about 9mm taller than the previous iPhones. Apps that aren’t redesigned to work on the iPhone 5’s longer screen will be letterboxed, like what happens when you’re watching an HD movie on a regular definition television.

The new connector that Apple has dubbed, the Lightning connector, while making all of your existing accessories obsolete, is supposed to be more durable, and easier to use. No more trying to figure out if you are putting the cord in the right way though; the Lightning connector is reversable. A $29 adapter to make the iPhone 5 compatible with devices designed to work with the older 30 pin iPod connector is supposed to be coming soon, however the adapter does not support video out.

The iPhone 5 will be quite faster than the iPhone 4S because it has Apple’s A6 processor in it and LTE 4G data. However, because of the complexity of the different LTE 4G technologies, the iPhone 5 will not be a world phone like the iPhone 4S was. In the United States the GSM version will be supported on AT&T, and the CDMA version will be supported on Sprint and Verizon. Even with the faster processor and wireless data, the iPhone 5 is not suffering from decreased battery life. In fact, the

The rear camera on the iPhone 5 is the same as the iPhone 4S, but the front-facing is now a 1.2 MP camera that can shoot 720p video. The lens is made of sapphire crystal which is second in hardness only to diamond, which should help some iShutterbugs from scratching their iPhone’s camera lens. Also, the entire back of the iPhone 5 is no longer glass like the iPhone 4S and 4; instead, it is now mostly aluminum, with glass inlays on the top and bottom.

Apple also announced new “Earpods,” headphones that have been redesigned fit into your ear more comfortably and securely and to give better, fuller sound. The remote on the headphones has also been enlarged to make it easier to use the controls. It took 11 years, but Apple has finally fixed the problem of having a tangled mess of wires in our pockets; the Earpods come with a storage and travel case.

The pricing of the iPhone 5 remains the same as the pricing of what the iPhone 4S was: on a two-year contract the iPhone 5 costs $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB, and $399 for the 64 GB. The iPhone 4S has been reduced to $99 on a two-year contract, but only comes with 16 GB, and the iPhone 4 is now $0 on a two-year contract. Preorders of the iPhone 5 begin on September 14th, and the iPhone 5 will be available in stores at 8:00 AM, September 21st.

So, in summary, if you’re in the market for a new phone, the iPhone 5 is a good phone. It has solid hardware, and it is a handsome phone. If you were hoping for something more exciting, we’re sorry to disappoint. As soon as it is available in stores we’ll put up a hands-on review with the iPhone 5.

What’s your take on the iPhone 5? How do you think it matches up with the current phones on the market and the ones that have been recently announced? Let us know in the comments down below.

I have a bad habit (or good habit depending on your perspective) of updating apps without even looking at the description. As soon as I see the badge next to the App Store, I will automatically update all apps as soon as I get on Wi-Fi. So far this hasn’t been to my detriment. I know that a rogue update or bad app could slip through, but my mild OCD just can’t handle leaving badge numbers that can be cleared. So far, the worst that has happened has been that I have overlooked awesome new updates. That is apparently what happened yesterday. This morning, I opened my iPhone to take a look at next week’s show. I opened this week’s script for Deemable Tech, and I noticed a new green button that said “Edit.” I jumped for joy! Does this mean that Google Drive finally has native editing on iOS? Yes, it does! I went back to the App Store to see what the Google Drive description of the latest update said. It reads:

What’s New in Version 1.1.0

– Edit Google documents with formatting and collaboration
– Edits to your Google documents appear to collaborators in seconds
– Richer Google presentations with animations and speaker notes
– Create a new folder or Google document
– Upload photos and videos from your device or a photo directly from your camera
– Move an item to a folder in your Drive
– Delete and remove files from your Drive
– Drive is now available in over 30 languages

Thank goodness! This has been one of my pet peeves about Google Drive ever since the app for iPhone and iPad came out. Several apps (including GoDocs and AirSharing) could already upload and download documents to Google Docs before and after Google Drive was launched. It was ridiculous that Google’s own app couldn’t do that. Nothing drove me crazier than watching the Android guys edit the show notes on their phones while I was stuck using a desktop or laptop.

Unfortunately, the update only gives iOS users the ability to create and edit documents; spreadsheets and presentations are still out in the cold. Get to work on those spreadsheets and presentations, Google! I have TPS reports due by noon! At least I can create and edit the cover sheets in Google Drive, though.

The interface is quite attractive though, and in traditional Google style is very simple and clean. Once you tap the edit button, all the formatting options are at the top. A swipe to the left shows the rest of the options that aren’t on screen. If there are more options, an extra menu temporarily appears at the top or the bottom to select your option.

All in all, the update isn’t a huge step, but it’s enough to keep me happy for a while. How much can we really complain though? Pages from Apple costs $9.99 and it doesn’t even have an easy to use web interface or collaborative tools. Although to be fair, Google Drive doesn’t have nearly as many features as Pages for iOS either. Keep up the good work, Google.

Rejoice! Apple just released its latest software update today for their mobile operating system, known as iOS, which can be downloaded and installed immediately via the iTunes program.

Supported devices include:

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 (GSM model)
• iPad
• iPod Touch (3rd and 4th generation)

The latest update includes some small improvements to the operating system, minor bug fixes, as well as the latest security updates. Specifically, the latest iOS update addresses the problem of blank or frozen screens occurring during FaceTime calls and fixes issues that prevented international users from connecting to 3G data networks on iPad-WiFi + 3G. While these updates to the iOS don’t seem too drastic, the upgrade will take up 666.2MB of your virtual space.

The last update to Apple’s mobile operating software, iOS 4.3.1, was released only a few weeks ago. According to Apple, the update to iOS 4.3.1

• Fixed an occasional graphics glitch on iPod touch (4th generation)
• Resolved bugs related to activating and connecting to some cellular networks
• Fixed image flicker when using Apple Digital AV Adapter with some TVs
• Resolved an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services

For those with an iPhone that is jailbroken or unlocked, it is recommended that you not upgrade at this time as you may lose these features. For Verizon CDMA-based iPhone 4 users, the software update is released as iOS 4.2.7 and includes similar bug fixes and security updates.

Even more good news is on the way as it is rumored that Apple is working hard on their next software update, iOS 5.

Photo by Vlad Savov via Engadget