New mobiles built to recognise owner's voice

LONDON - A British company is developing a voice recognition system for mobile phones that would learn what its owner sounds like – and refuse to work if the phone was stolen.

The technology comes from research by scientists at Portsmouth University, and has been packed into a software program called Neuvoice that is so small it might be beamed to phones already in use.

The use of a PIN would let users lend the phone to a friend, or to operate it when their voice changed – as happens when they had a cold.

Mobile phone companies have been told by British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to find a way of making mobile phones less attractive to thieves.

Figures released in January showed a rise in the number of thefts of mobile phones, and Mr Straw promised there would be a mobile phone "summit" with manufacturers and networks to make the phones less attractive to street robbers.

Although mobile phones sold today incorporate security systems such as PIN protection, this has to be turned on and is often inconvenient for users.