Qualcomm today announced the inclusion of a hardware based “kill switch” on its upcoming chipset — the Snapdragon 810.

Dubbed SafeSwitch, the company boasts that its implementation is superior than the competition since its hardware based and is almost impossible to “hack.” Additionally, the technology has been engineered to protect firmware, resist chip replacement and lock down critical device components in case its stolen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Ojc_UJFZs

If someone tries to tamper with the hardware chip’s lock mechanism, SafeSwitch will disable the device during boot, effectively making it useless to the thieves. SafeSwitch will also allow users to remotely wipe or track their device and even change its password. Users will safely be able to re-enable their device once they have managed to get reclaim it.

At the moment, it is not clear which future Android devices will make use of Qualcomm’s SafeSwitch technology, but chances are nearly all the high-end ones will definitely do.