Android Wear finds lost phones from the wrist

Android Wear owners will soon be able to locate their lost or stolen Android smartphones directly from their wrists.

According to the official Android blog, an update to the Android Device Manager will let wearers of Android Wear devices locate a misplaced handset by calling it at full volume.

While some third-party Android Wear apps essentially do they same thing, they rely on the relatively small halo of a Bluetooth connection to work, making them useless if your phone is out of range.

It's expected that Google will soon enhance Android Wear by enabling Wi-Fi support. Once that's turned on, you should be able to dial out to your phone as long as you're Wi-Fi-connected. Although Google didn't give an exact schedule, today's announcement points to a rollout within weeks.

It's still unclear if the full Android Device Manager options will come to Android Wear. If it does, users could also be able to remotely lock and erase their device.