AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint just rejected a landmark proposal from Samsung to implement kill switch software on its smartphones, which would allow you to disable your phone in the event that it's stolen. Brian X. Chen at the New York Times reports that, according to emails obtained between a Samsung executive and a software developer, "it appeared that the carriers were unwilling to allow Samsung to load the antitheft software" onto its devices. Last year, CBS News reported that cell phone theft in New York City was at an "all-time high," and the trend is similar in other big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. As an alternative measure, the carriers are keen on doubling down on a nationwide database for stolen-phones, which, you may not have heard, quietly went live in October 2012.



More...