A California bill requiring that smartphones and tablets...

A California bill requiring that smartphones and tablets sold in the state include theft-deterring technology passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee by a 6-2 vote on Tuesday. SB-962 (http://bit.ly/1i0TKOj), sponsored by Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, requires that smartphones and tablets sold beginning Jan. 1, 2015, come with a kill switch that would render them useless if stolen. “Smartphone robberies have become epidemic in cities across California, mainly because there is a financial incentive to steal and then resell these valuable devices on the black market,” Leno said in a news release. More than 65 percent of all robberies in San Francisco, and 75 percent in Oakland, involve the theft of a mobile device, it said.