Gadgetory

it's time to get tough against smartphone theft I'm Bridget Carey and this is your cnet update smartphone theft is becoming an increasing problem and to stop it some lawmakers are pushing for cell phones to have a kill switch so if your phone is stolen it's turned into a useless paperweight and criminals would be discouraged from stealing it but the mobile carriers are rejecting the idea Samsung tried to incorporate this technology in its phones but the major US carriers would approve of Samsung's anti-theft software well why is that because the carriers could lose money right now there is lots of profit to be made from customers that pay for those monthly insurance plans or from those that need to buy a new phone because of theft the lobbying group for the wireless industry the ctia published papers saying that it doesn't support the idea of a kill switch because of the risks that come with permanently disabling a phone as it stands now the carrier's can stop stolen phones from being used for calls or texts on a cellular network but the phone would still work over Wi-Fi and it can't be used in other countries so it's up to you to be prepared to know what measures you can take if your phone is stolen android windows and iOS all have different tools for tracking down locking and wiping data remotely and you can check out the update blog for a link with more details on how each system works more advanced apps are being made for the google glass headpiece google is giving developers new tools to build more complicated apps and it's revealing some potential cool uses for glass a new word lens app translates text into a different language strava is a tool for tracking the distance of bike rides or runs so you don't take your phone out during a workout golfers can use glass to get facts about the course and how far they are from the green and users can get cooking instructions through the small screen with the app all the cooks in our last update show you learned about moga's new iphone game controller case well logitech has begun selling its own now it's the powershell controller available for the same price of one hundred dollars this snap-on controller also has a built-in battery and it makes it easier to play complex iOS 7 games it ships in December be sure to check out cnet's review of the Xbox one Microsoft's new console hits stores Friday and it has tons of new TV features to control your cable box but it doesn't have full DVR integration the system has plenty of perks but our reviewer found that connect voice commands don't always work it just didn't deliver a knockout blow against the police station for which came out last week for a hundred dollars less that your tech news update but you can find more details on the show blog sina com / update and follow along on Twitter from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey