Tech round-up for July 21: Tesla's Model 3 arrives next week, "Find My Phone" saves me, and how to prepare for flying to the U.S.

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This week, how you can prepare for your next flight to the United States, and how I used Apple’s “Find My Phone” feature to avert disaster last weekend. But first, Tesla’s Model 3 EV is on the verge.

Tesla’s low cost, high range Model 3 EV is nearly in the world

Elon Musk kept the first Model 3 for himself.

The new electric vehicle (EV) from Tesla has a long range and entry-level price and Musk hopes will tip EVs in the auto market.

The next 30 Model 3s from Tesla will go to customers, who will be receiving their vehicles at a handover party next Friday, July 28, according to Musk.

The Model 3, first unveiled in March 2016, generated lots of excitement. Tesla had booked 350,000 preorders in a week, with each customer putting down a $1,000 deposit.

The true test will be whether Tesla can keep up with demand. Right now, Musk has said that production will start slow but grow exponentially: 100 in August, 1,500 in September, and pushing 20,000 per month by the end of the year.

If the company can’t keep up with demand, that would be an opportunity for other companies that have perfected manufacturing: General Motors and the Chevrolet Bolt, for example.

Apple’s “Find My Phone” feature for the win in Washington State

I was out of town last weekend, at the Timber music festival, which is held in Carnation, a quaint town along the Snoqualmie River about 30 minutes east of metro Seattle.

My family was there with friends, and we had a really nice weekend.

And on the Sunday morning as we were packing up to leave, I managed to forget my iPhone 7+ in the portable toilet.

I didn’t drop it in the hole or anything. Just set it down and didn’t pick it back up again.

It was at least 15 minutes before I realized what I’d done.

The phone wasn’t were I left it, of course. So I used my wife’s phone to call mine, hoping the person who had picked it up would answer it.

When that didn’t work, I realized I should have just started with the Find My Phone feature that Apple builds into its devices.

Instantly I could see where my iPhone was. I moved towards the green dot on the map and found myself in front of a group of teenagers. I asked them if any of them had picked up a phone, and indicated that I had tracked it to that location.

They all denied being in possession of the phone. I tapped the “Play Sound” button and while I couldn’t hear anything, the teens told me they could hear something in the long grass just behind them.

I got my iPhone back just before the group packed into a truck and drove away. I have no doubt that if I did not have access to Find My Phone, I would not have the device with me today.

Thanks, Apple.

You’re going to need more time at the airport if you’re flying to the U.S.

Starting this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is requiring better scrutiny of air passengers flying into the United States.

Air Canada and WestJet are advising customers to give themselves two hours to clear airport security, where the extra screening is taking place.

The overall process hasn’t changed, but there is an increased likelihood that you could get selected for additional attention, with your carry-on being hand searched and your electronics being tested for residue.

You should be prepared to take laptops and tablets out of any protective cases, and you’ll need to be able to turn them on to prove they are fully functional devices.

The extra security is a byproduct of intelligence the U.S. claims to have received that terrorists had developed explosives that could be hidden in laptops. That led to an outright ban on computers and tablets from the cabins of flights heading to the U.S. from some airports in the Middle East and North Africa.

There is, as yet, no such ban on laptops and tablets for flights from Canada.

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