screaming phones

Mobile phones 'scream' when stolen

Oct 2, 2006, 8.47 pm (Singapore time)

LONDON - A mobile phone service which makes your handset scream when it's been stolen was launched in Britain, with its makers claiming it could spell the end of mobile theft altogether.

The Remote XT system would also automatically wipe clean all the information on the stolen mobile including phone numbers, photos and other data, after having saved them on a central computer server.

The piercing high-pitched sound emitted by the handset, which sounds exactly like a human scream, can only be turned off by removing the battery from the phone, effectively rendering it pointless to steal it in the first place.

'By making mobiles unusable to anyone but the rightful owner, the phones become worthless and we'll see (the) market for stolen handsets stamped out once and for all,' said Mr Mark Whiteman, managing director of Remote XT.

'Theft-proof phones spell disaster for the huge criminal industry that has profited from mobile theft for too long,' he added.

Under the system, if an owner is mugged or has their mobile stolen they phone a 24-hour call centre to have it registered as stolen. The handset is then wiped and disabled, and cannot even be used if a new SIM card is inserted.

There's only one glitch: for the moment the system is aimed at business customers and comes with a subscription of £9.99 (US$18.71) per month, possibly prohibitive for private mobile owners. -- AFP

Sounds like a lovely business model. The only problem is, how is the thief going to be deterred if he doesnt know your phone is going to scream until after he has stolen it? Especially when it is too expensive to be ubiquitous.