Don't Ever Lose Your Keys Again

There are a host of apps to help you find your lost phone with names like "Where's My Droid" , "Lost Phone", "Find My Android" and many more. Some require you to call your phone from a computer. Some want you to text your phone from another cellphone. Some will send back the location of your phone. Others will let you remotely reset the ringer from silent to ring. And still others will let you remotely disable the phone and even wipe out its data. Apple's iPhone4 includes one of my favorites for free, "FindMyPhone." It will let you go to a website, track your phone's location using its built-in GPS sensor, and allow you to disable the phone remotely or wipe out all of its data. And yes, I've had to use it myself. Phone Locator Pro does much the same for Android phones at a price of $2.86. Of course, if you lose it in the house, you call always just pick up another phone and call the missing cell.

Finding the keys

It's easy to attach a small electronic key fob to your keys. Push the transmitter and an alarm sounds on the key fob. Sometimes there's a flashing light as well. There are a number of key finder sets on the market, many of which come with multiple receivers so you can tag other important items like your wallet, or remote controls. Among the brands we found available on Amazon.com: EZ-Find, Smart Finder, Click 'n Dig and Orliv Smart Finder. Prices generally run from about $25 to $45 for a transmitter and a set of six receivers. But there is one big problem with most of these systems. They use a single transmitter. Misplace that and you're out of luck in finding any of the six things electronically attached to it. There is one product I've found that may have the best solution. Find One Find All, or FOFA, can manage six devices as well. It has a variety of receivers including flat ones for your wallet, key fob style, and the only one I've found for retrieving eyeglasses. That uses a small receiver as part of a glasses lanyard. The difference is that all of FOFA's receivers are also transmitters. So as long as you can find just one of your FOFA activated items you can theoretically locate the rest.

Next: Help finding your car. >>