The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: OneCall's Weekend Sale - 20 Great Items at Great Prices All Weekend Long

iAlertU Puts Alarm on MacBook Pro

by , 4:20 PM EDT, April 7th, 2006

Randy Green is in development of iAlertU, a utility that takes advantage of the motion sensor built into the MacBook Pro to sound an alarm when someone picks up the computer. A demo video linked to from his blog shows the software being activated with the Apple Remote, making a sound similar to a car alarm being turned on, and then sounding a warning when someone tries to grab it.

The utility is currently in the alpha stage of development, and Mr. Green is taking suggestions through his blog. He's expressed an interest in supporting iBooks and PowerBooks with built-in motion sensors, and he responded positively to a suggestion that the software use the MacBook Pro's built-in iSight camera to snap a photo of the person trying to nab the computer and then email it to the owner.

No word yet on pricing or a release date.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
View Name:Guest
Subject: Would be quite easy to break?
Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1739 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

What are the motion sensors for? I've looked around the MacBook Pro pages at Apple.com but I can't find any reference to them.

View Name:Guest
Subject: motion sensors
Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1739 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

Oh, like the IBM laptops.

When did they start doing this? Is it new with the MacBook?

View Name:Guest
Subject:
Close Name:Bigfat Posts: 36 Joined: 22 Jun 2004
Subject: Bigfat

The motion sensor came around in the last couple revisions of the Powerbooks I believe. They've been implemented for about a year now I think.

View Name:Guest
Subject: motin sensors
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: Sensors
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: Motion Sensors
Close Name:macinnerd Posts: 1682 Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Subject:

Wow. That's 7 people awnsering a single question, but saying the same thing, except for the two who added in-depth info. If what you are going to say has already been posted, there is no need to post it again.

Close Name:David Nelson -   TMO Staff Posts: 5368 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject: Re: Would be quite easy to break?

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
The program would not be able to run if you close the lid before you move the laptop as it would be sleeping... If I were to steal a laptop, I would probably close it before moving it


I tried this with my MacBook a while back. As I recall, if the program is armed the computer does not sleep when closing the lid and instead sounds the alarm.

Comment on this Article


You cannot edit your comments.   You cannot delete your comments.
Log in | Register | Having Problems? Reset TMO Cookies & Try Again
Username:   Password:   Log me on automatically each visit   

You are not logged in, and this post will appear as "Guest." Log in with your username and password from the TMO forums. If you do not have a username, you can register here.
Please note that guests are limited to including a maximum of two URLs per post.


Post A Comment
  Subject


  Your Comments



Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.


Recent Headlines - Updated Friday, July 18th, 2008

Fri., 4:30 PM
iPO Apple Store Spotlight - Bloomberg LP - Financial Information on Your iPhone
2:50 PM
iPO Just a Thought - Seven Days (and Counting) Trying to Get an iPhone
2:15 PM
AAPL Drops 3% in Afternoon Trading, Deferred Revenue Accounting Earning Attention
12:05 PM
iPO Review - Jensen JiMS-525i
11:05 AM
Apple in Art
10:40 AM
iPO Free on iTunes - AtomTV, Black In America, Strange Days on Planet Earth, & More
9:15 AM
TMO's DealsOnTheWeb.com - JBL On Stage II Speaker System w/RF Remote Control: $67.99 Delivered
8:20 AM
StrangeCharm - Particle Debris and a New iPhone (2G)
7:30 AM
TMO Quick Tip - Build Your Own Twitter Client
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Special Report: WWDC 2008
  • Special Report: iPhone
  • __________
  • Help TMO Grow
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!
  • New Media Expo 2008

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $165.15. Change Today: -6.66.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb