iPhone theft activation lock introduced by Apple

Apple on Monday unveiled a new iPhone feature it billed as a potent protection against thieves, seeking to stem a national crime wave focused on its ubiquitous smartphones.

According to the Huffington Post, the "activation lock" feature is designed to render a phone inoperable when a thief attempts to turn off another program that locates missing devices without first supplying an account password, according to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering.