Intel announces lo-jack for laptops, but offers few details

Intel, Phoenix Technologies, Fujitsu-Siemens, Lenovo, and McAfee have announced their collaborative effort to create a remote access solution that allows a laptop to be locked down in the event of a theft or loss.

Precisely how Intel's Anti-Theft Technology (ATT) will function was not fully elucidated today at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, but it has been said that it will be added to the Active Management Technology present in Centrino vPro systems, which enables remote management functions.

Phoenix -- most known for its BIOS -- announced that its Failsafe technology will be embedded into the core firmware layer in ATT-equipped systems, resulting in a non-deletable solution for data encryption and remote command and control.

The Anti-Theft Technology is expected to arrive in the fourth quarter of this year, but Intel did not specify whether this will be when complete systems are ready, or when the technology will be offered to OEMs. It's possible the launch of ATT will be timed to coincide with the debut of Centrino 2.