At the start of this month, US government officials called on various top technology companies to discuss how they could prevent the theft of mobile devices. This was a response to statistics like the one from New York City’s annual crime index which registered a new high thanks to the climbing theft of iPhones and iPads. It is because of this very reason the US government officials demanded the tech companies to introduce a kill switch in their devices so in case a device gets stolen it could be wiped, locked or disabled. Just a few days after that meeting between government officials and tech companies, Apple introduced a kill switch or Activation Lock feature for iOS devices when the company announced its latest iOS 7 at the World Wide Developers Conference 2013 and became the first company to roll out such a trait. However, since then all eyes are on Samsung, as the South Korean electronics manufacturer is the biggest rival of Apple and competes with the California-based tech giant in different categories of the market.
Therefore, now everyone is waiting to see when Samsung will unveil a kill switch or feature in its latest devices. In fact a Korean website, MK has reported that Samsung is ready to release its anti-theft features for its smartphones as soon as in July. The site has also asserted that the anti-theft feature of Samsung will work as a kill switch and it will enable the manufacturers, carriers and even government authorities to lock out, wipe out or disable the device that has been snatched from a user. Once this anti-theft feature is activated, the device would become completely useless and even installation of a new SIM card will not be able to bring it back to life.
With the introduction of this new feature, smartphone manufacturers have fulfilled the demand of US government officials, who believes that by “letting customers shut down their phones would make them worthless on the black market and reduce so-called “Apple picking” — the fastest-growing street crime in New York City. Schneiderman cited statistics that show a 40% jump in the theft of mobile devices in New York City in 2012.”
Let’s hope that the things should go as the government officials and smartphone manufacturers have planned, but if thieves manages to find a way to reactivate the device then, this whole activity will go to waste. Nevertheless, at this point in time nothing can be said with surety, as users have not got their hands on Apple’s iOS 7, whereas Samsung has not even announced such a feature.
Source: 9to5Google, TQ
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