Thefts of iPads and iPhones are up 44 percent in New York City this year, NYPD statistics show.

This year there was a spike in city-wide thefts of popular Apple devices like iPhones and iPads in the part of 2012 from the same period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

The in-demand devices which can retail from $200 to $800 were swiped 1,196 times as of April 15 this year, compared to 831 during the period last year, according to the data provided to the Daily News.

The robbery and murder of Hwang Yang, a 26-year-old chef who was gunned down in Riverdale and stripped of his iPhone on his way home from work after midnight on Thursday, is yet another reminder of the growing epidemic.

A family friend of the victim told the Daily News that the killer took Yang’s cell phone but not his wallet after pumping a bullet into Yang’s chest at Cambridge Avenue near 232nd Street.

Police are still looking for the criminal who ended Yang’s life and casually walked off with his phone. They’re offering a $12,000 reward.

One police source compared holding iPhone or iPod on the subway to flashing cash in public.

“It’s the equivalent of holding hundreds of dollars in your hand,” the source said.

The devices are attractive to thieves in part because they can easily be resold. But police and legislators are hoping to combat that under a new initiative.

Police commissioner Raymond Kelly and Sen. Chuck Schumer last week announced a deal with mobile phone carriers and federal regulators to build a worldwide database of unique ID numbers assigned to cell phones so stolen devices can be tracked.

The ID numbers, known as International Mobile Equipment Identities, or IMEI, will help deter thieves, who are currently able to remove SIM cards from stolen devices and resell them on the black market with ease.

Veteran crooks have long been wise to the loophole in the system.

Cops nabbed a sticky-fingered career criminal at the Grand Central after he swiped an iPhone out of the backpack of an undercover decoy cop on an uptown 4 train Tuesday.

Mustapha Matthews, 24, was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property and held on $2,500 bail.

Similarly, 47-year-old Raymond Rodriguez was collared after taking iPhone from a decoy officer’s bag on Dec. 10.

The NYPD has recently taken measures to combat the rampant problem by deploying undercover cops to problem spots like Midtown and on subways.

(Source: NY Daily News)