Google announced on Friday that it will push out a service called Android Device Manager to users on Android 2.2 and above. The service will let you locate and ring your device (turning the volume up to maximum, even if the ringer is off) and will let you locate the phone or tablet on a map in real time. Google also said that Android Device Manager will let you wipe data from a device in the event that it's been stolen.

You will have to be signed in with your Google Accounts to use Android Device Manager. While Google presented a screenshot of a Web-based interface, the company promised that “there will also be an Android app to allow you to easily find and manage your devices.”

Android users (myself included) have long circumvented the lack of an Android-sponsored remote access app by simply downloading third-party apps like Where's My Droid or Lookout Security & Antivirus. Still, making it easier for novice Android users to set up some basic security for their phones is a consumer-friendly, albeit late, move. (I once had an Android phone stolen, and I had been too naive to equip it with a proper security app. To all the Android users who like to live life in the fast lane, this service should give you one fewer reason to put off that 90-second task).

iOS has long had a similar feature, supported by Apple, called “Find my iPhone, iPad, and Mac.” That service also allows a phone's owner to ring a missing device or wipe a stolen phone. In addition, the iOS service allows users to remotely lock the phone and send a message to the finder asking for the phone to be returned. Google's announcement of its device manager was short, but it didn't mention such a feature, so we'll have to wait and see what the service looks like when it arrives.