Smartphones in general – and the iPhone in particular – are a popular target for thieves. This week in Marlton, New Jersey, a group of criminals raided an Apple store and made off with a haul of electronics including notebooks and iPhones.

The episode was caught on video and became a web sensation as the thieves took a total of 31 seconds to swipe thousands of dollars worth of electronics, according to reports. If there’s a lesson from this incident, it’s that enterprises need to be conscious of the threat of device theft from their mobile phone inventory.

However, some other recent iPhone thefts reported in the media revealed that smartphone owners have an ace up their sleeves when it comes to catching the thieves and getting their phones back. Most smartphones have GPS devices, meaning law enforcement can easily locate where the phones end up.

One victim of a mugging in Pittsburgh went home to call police and report the theft of his wallet and iPhone. By the time police arrived, the man was tracking the thieves from his computer, according to the Associated Press.

Combining GPS capabilities on smartphones with telephone tracking software, enterprises can recover lost or stolen devices.

This entry was posted by Mobility Management News Desk on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Managing Mobile Devices News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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