The Korean behemoth, Samsung Electronics has found a way to kill a smartphone or tablet remotely. Smartphones such as iPhone grabs are on the rise and last year alone device users lost more than 1.6 million mobile units. The technology would have given some comfort to phone and other mobile device owners in the event their phone or device is lost or stolen. Unfortunately, U.S. wireless carriers are refusing to sell mobile devices containing kill switches from Samsung.

Law enforcement officials and consumer advocates are promoting the idea of a kill switch. Then why wireless carriers are objecting to it? Wireless carriers argue that it will add an additional burden on its customer service staff. Reinstalling a kill switch after an accidental mistake of a use is not a task for a lay person. Instead, wireless carriers and their trade group, CTIA, are working with law enforcement and others to implement other measures to prevent or reduce mobile device thefts. CTIA is launching a nationwide effort to create a tracking database and advocating heavy fines for convicted traffickers. Carriers are looking for technological innovations other than kill switches. However, Apple has succeeded introducing software to remotely deactivate iPhones.