Anti-theft technology developed that makes phones slippery when grabbed by pickpockets
MOBILE phones will soon give pick-pockets the slip by sliding from their fingers when they try to pinch them.
Sensors will be able to tell if someone other than the owner picks up the handset.
They will vibrate rapidly to make it difficult for a thief to grip the edges so they are harder to steal.
The feature, known as adaptive friction, has been developed by Swedish phone giant Ericsson, which has filed a patent.
The application says: “In this mode, the unauthorised user would have a more difficult time gripping the device.”
The technology relies on built-in sensors to detect how it is being used or picked up.
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It becomes easier to grip when in the palm of the hand but slippery when someone attempts to take it from a pocket.
The extra grip when calling or texting also cuts the risk of dropping it, ending the costly misery of repairing cracked screens.
There were an estimated 446,000 phone thefts in England and Wales during 2016.
Thieves often pickpocket devices or snatch them from users’ hands in drive-by thefts on mopeds. But is not known when the feature will make its way into phones sold in shops.
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