Apple wants to kill jailbroken phones, applies for patent
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 23 August 2010, 18:50 IST
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Bangalore: Apple has applied for a patent that provides a variety of security measures to protect iPhone users from thieves and other unauthorized users automatically. The company desires to have a killswitch to disable 'jailbroken' iPhones. The patent will cover technologies that would detect and circumvent 'jailbreaking'. Jailbreaking is referred as running software that enables a user access to broader capabilities than the one allowed already by Apple. Users can unlock their phones with jailbroken phones, so they can use carriers which is not authorized by Apple. Jailbreaking was recently deemed permissible in the U.S. as a fair use right for users as it is the only resort for users who desire to use iPhones in those countries where Apple is not an authorized carrier. Apple could possibly detect the unauthorized users by voice printing the owner and activate an accelerometer to see if a phone thief after the patent application is sanctioned. Through this sytem the phone will delete the entire memory if it realizes that the phone is in wrong hands but the system may not be able to distinguish thefts from cases when a user is simply trying to escape from Apple's rules about jailbreaking.

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