Thieves may regret stealing HP’s Elitebook Folio 1020 laptops

Thieves might regret stealing Hewlett-Packard’s ultrathin Elitebook Folio 1020 laptops, which have a feature that turns them into nothing more than paperweights in case of theft.

A special feature in the Elitebook Folio 1020 is an “always on” capability so the laptop can be tracked even when it’s shut off, as with smartphones and tablets. If a laptop is lost or stolen, it can be tracked down to a specific location and data can be remotely wiped by a system administrator.

HP is tailoring the always-on tracking feature for the company’s Web-based Touchpoint Manager mobile-device management service. The laptops have an extremely low-power ARM-based chip that remains on to enable the tracking and GPS-like feature, and the Touchpoint Manager service can issue alerts and start wiping data if a laptop is stolen or lost.

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