Lenovo's SMS-kill feature locks your laptop remotely

I like this.

Leave your Lenovo laptop on the train?

Someone arse has half-inched (“pinched”) it from your hotel room?

No biggie.

Whip out your handset and text your laptop. The laptop’s receiver is always-on (although I’d be interested to know what the battery implications are) so that whenever it gets that kill text message, it’ll lock down the system.

Thus, when your thief tries to flog your laptop to someone in a pub, they’ll switch it on an find it’s dead.

Until, that is, you enter the unlock code.

Kudos to Shane McGlaun of Arstechnica for documenting this one.

This kind of feature would definitely make me switch laptop brands. It can’t be long before it’s integrated into every laptop, surely?

To bring the feature to market, Lenovo worked with Phoenix Technologies. The two firms say that the system will function as long as the notebook and the users are in an area that supports GSM cellular networks and text messaging.