(http://readwrite.com/files/fields/androiddevicemanager.png)
By the end of this month, most Android users will finally be able to locate and, if necessary, remotely wipe data from misplaced smartphones and tablets. Google today announced Android Device Manager (http://officialandroid.blogspot.com/2013/08/find-your-lost-phone-with-android.html), a new feature for Android versions 2.2 and up that basically mimics the functionality in Apple's long-standing "Find My iPhone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Find_My_iPhone)" service. Which, by the way, launched more than three years ago.
The Google version will let you ring a phone (even if it's muted), locate it on a map in real time, or wipe it clean if it's been stolen or can't be recovered.
Image courtesy of Google (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/dude-wheres-my-phone-simple-steps-to.html)
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