The California legislature has completed a bill which now goes to the Governor to sign which will mandate that all cell phones sold in the state after July 2015 must have a "Kill Switch".

The solution can be either a software or hardware device that renders a phone inoperable if the owner misplaces it or has it stolen.

the bill says: the device should "be able to withstand a hard reset [to] prevent reactivation of the smartphone on a wireless network except by an authorized user."

State Senator Mark Leno, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement: "This legislation will literally stop smartphone thieves in their tracks by ensuring all new smartphones sold in California come pre-enabled with theft-deterrent technology. With law enforcement agencies reporting a drop in thefts of phones that already provide kill switches to their customers, it is clear that this is an idea whose time has come."

In April, some of the biggest names in tech volunteered to integrate "kill switches" into their new handsets by July 2015, including AT&T, Google, HTC, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon. But regulators and law enforcement officials said the effort did not go far enough because it was opt-in rather than on by default.