If you are one of those people who seems to ‘misplace’ things from time to time, then you may be interested to hear about a free service from Apple for iPhone 4 and iPad owners.

The ‘Find my iPhone’ service will help find your missing Apple kit, either by browsing to www.me.com on a standard Internet browser or by using the ‘Find My iPhone’ app on another iPhone or iPad device.

Once detected, the location of the device will be shown on a map. Options then include displaying a message on the phone or playing a sound to help you find it (even if the phone is on silent). It is also possible to lock the phone or to wipe it, permanently deleting all data.

Sound useful? To try it out for yourself, navigate to ‘Settings’, ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars’, ‘Add Account’, ’mobileme’ on the handset.

Find My iPhone was made free of charge with the iOS 4.2.1. You should bear in mind that the service only works when the device is in range of either a mobile network or a connected WI-FI receiver.