I obey you only

Scientists are trying to make electronic gadgets like MP3 players and mobile phones which won’t get charged unless they are owned by the person charging them.

Every portable gadget has a charging circuit that recognises when the charger jack has been plugged in. It then begins trickling a current to the battery.

Now, US-based electronic product manufacturer Apple has claimed that the Digital Charge Management (DCM) technology that it has developed can stop a person from using gadgets if he or she does not own it. In a patent application filed recently, the company said DCM technology uses a ‘guardian’ circuit to spot when someone is trying to use a cell phone with an unauthorised synching system, reported the online edition of New Scientist.

If codes buried in the synching or download software do not match those assigned to a particular gadget, its battery charging circuit is disabled and the gadget becomes unusable.

Some people may object to such a restriction and there is a risk that the ID codes may be misread and an expensive and legitimately-owned gadget might end up becoming an expensive paperweight.— IANS