Smartphones are to be installed with a new 'kill switch', rendering them virtually useless, in a bid to try and curb soaring levels of phone thefts.
Apple has announced that the capability will be added as part of the latest iOS update due out in the autumn.
And the Mayor of London Boris Johnson is among politicianspushing all phone manufacturers to follow suit and do moreto tackle phone theft.
'Kill Switch': As part of an update to the operating system and the 'Find My Phone' application, iPhone users will be able to deactivate their devices online
Developing: Apple announced the 'kill switch' at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple CEO Tim Cook, pictured at the conference, and other executives spoke about the new update
There were more than 100,000 'thefts from person' in the UK last year - an 8 per cent increase on 2011.
Last week, pop singer Katie Melua had her iPhone 5 rippedfrom her by muggers as she walked from her home.
Police say the rise has been driven by phone thefts, particularly the recent phenomenon of thieves on bikes snatching handsets from victims as they ride past.
In New York, police say so-called 'Apple picking' is the fastest growing crime in the city with 113 devices stolen or lost every minutes across the US.
Boris Johnson has written to the heads of Apple, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft, Blackberry and Sony demanding action, according to the Financial Times.
His officials met with their counterparts in New York this week to share ideas on how to tackle the issue.
Pressure: London Mayor Boris Johnson has written to phone manufactures asking them to do more to help deter thefts
Singer Katie Melua (pictured singing at the Coronation Gala, at Buckingham Palace) was mugged earlier this week as she walked home in London
The Apple update will allow users to deactivatetheir stolen smartphone online through an activation lock. Even ifthe owner's SIM card is removed, a thief can't erase the phone's data without a username and password.
Hot commodity: iPhones and other Apple products have become increasingly vulnerable to thef
An Apple ID and password are also required to turn off the new 'Find My Phone' application--which tracks a stolen or lost phone's GPS location. A custom message, such as 'This iPhone is lost. Please call me' will be continuously displayed even if thieves manage to erase the phone.
'We think this is going to be a really powerful theft deterrent,' Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi said at the developer's conference on June 10.
Police warn that criminals want mobile phones, iPads and other electronic devices to sell on the black market overseas, where handsets can be sold on for twice their value in the UK.
And they say the public are leaving themselves vulnerable to attack by texting or using the internet while walking along, often with earphones in, oblivious to what is going on around them.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of personal thefts increased by eight per cent last year. In theyear to December 2012 police recorded 107,471 such offences up from 99,396 a year earlier.
The true total is likely to be much higher as many people do not report incidents to the police. An ONS spokesman said: ‘This represents a speeding-up of the recent increases seen for this offence.
‘Anecdotal evidence suggests that this may be in part driven by theft of smartphones including the phenomena of bike riders stealing phones from people’s hands.’

Not apple user but nice 1

activation lock. some iphones in computer village are already affected.

Time to start developing a jtag type revival method for phones intensionally assasinated by apple.

::gsmcoder:::
Time to start developing a jtag type revival method for phones intensionally assasinated by apple.

To aid phone theft abi?

kill switch now activated

Wow this will greatly reduce phone theft.
Btw you can get a US phone number for calls and sms at http://usacallsms.com