It's officially official now - Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 investigations are over, with findings and a quality enhancement plan going public in a few days.
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With network discontinuation moves in full swing across markets like New Zealand, Australia and Canada, US carriers restricting device charges altogether, and lower and lower battery limits imposed on the old continent, you might be wondering what exactly is up with the hazardous Galaxy Note 7 on Korean shores.
The answer, in short, seems to be… nothing. At least as far as a discouragingly high 15 percent of original owners in Samsung’s homeland are concerned, the potentially explosive phablet remains a perfectly acceptable daily driver.
Less than a couple of weeks away from the end of a challenging year the smartphone king would soon like to forget, it’s still hard to anticipate the precise timing of the already protracted global recall program’s conclusion.
Samsung is apparently hesitant to shut off Galaxy Note 7 cellular services in South Korea or further reduce the energy cap below the present 60 percent, seeing as how only 85 percent of the local 950,000 users have so far been persuaded to return their fickle but stylish and powerful S Pen-wielding phones.
That means roughly 140,000 people in Korea are not yet ready to part ways with the Note 7, and you don’t want to enrage such a large group of presumably super-devoted fans. Still, something must be done to quickly reach at least a 95 percent retrieval rate, and so battery loading may get restricted to as little as 15 percent sooner or later. It’s probably the only way besides remotely disabling the ill-fated handheld.
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Just because it has a crippled fingerprint sensor in the United States doesn’t mean that it can’t be a hit phone everywhere else.
App metrics company Apteligent has put out a “2016 Mobile Year in Review” on what it has tracked with its performance-tracking APIs. Those APIs are integrated into apps big, small, mobile and PC.
But strictly speaking about Android smartphones that were launched in the second half of this year, the data seems to say that the Sony Xperia XZ has come out on top as the most used in the global market right now.
Yep, thanks to that Galaxy Note 7 melting down and the subsequent recall, it’s Sony that has the far-and-away lead on its competition with nearly 0.15 percent in share.
At its peak, the Note 7 snagged more than 0.35 percent in early October. The XZ passed by the Note on its way up in mid-November. The Note 7 currently stands at below 0.05 percent and handily beats the LG V20, HTC 10 evo (or HTC Bolt) and even the OnePlus 3T — though all three phones only got started with sales within the last couple of months.
The Moto Z strikes just above Note 7 territory while the Google Pixel and the Pixel XL follow on respectively at around 0.06 percent.
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If Samsung’s mobile chief can have his way, you likely won’t have much information to go on about the Galaxy S8 from here on out.
In an email obtained by The Korea Herald, — we can feel the irony here — Dong-jin Koh wrote to his employees:
I feel deeply regretful to hear news of the recent attempts at data breach and prototype leak […] Samsung had a bitter experience due to the leak of important data — on product design and business strategies — to China and consequently suffered damages in the past.
Koh is urging his division to redouble security and cork in any information spills. All we’ve heard about so far from the rumor mill is that there will be a 5.7-inch variant alongside a 6.2-inch one. Both will feature dual-curve “edge” screens, an iris scanner and super-low-bezel, over-sized screens. Other features include stereo speakers and USB-C.
Samsung is also claimed to have just finished its investigation on the cause of explosions that accounted for the total recall of the Galaxy Note 7 and is passing along results to Korea Testing Laboratory, United Laboratories and other outside firms.
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After much hullabaloo about keeping the Galaxy Note 7 active on its network during the holidays for emergency purposes, it seems that Verizon has decided to let it go after all.
It will pass along an update from Samsung that will prevent the phone from charging on January 5. Plenty of time after the holidays to make sure that you’re safe and back in business, right?
Thing is, AT&T announced that it would apply the same update on January 5. Sprint posted a January 8 update date. Both carriers made the move official nearly a week ago.
So, what took Big Red so long? Was it posturing? We don’t know.
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We have quite the standoff going on right now between two of the largest companies in mobile. You might think I’m talking about Samsung vs. Apple, and you’d be half right. What I’m talking about is Samsung vs. Verizon. You see, last week, Samsung announced that it would be releasing a priority update to all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones still out in the wild that would essentially kill the phones. They would no longer be able to charge, rendering them basically useless.
Not so fastVerizon came out and announced that it would issue no such update. As it turns out, Verizon is not in the business of breaking phones and I get that, but is allowing them to burst into flames OK?. Samsung’s safety measure, while extreme, probably will be a positive in the long run. But Verizon, not incorrectly I might add, doesn’t want to issue an update that will cause its customers to have a broken phone, especially during the holiday season.
I get that, I really do. In this case, both sides have solid points in their favor. But I wanted to go over them and see if we could can reach some kind of conclusion. Samsung wants to prevent any more of its phones from catching fire. This is a good goal on many levels. Samsung will be saving property, and potentially lives with this action, which is good and noble. Samsung will also be closing the book on this “phones catching on fire” thing, which prevents more bad PR – as if it could get worse at this point.
Verizon on the other hand doesn’t want its customers to have broken phones – also for a variety of reasons. First, Verizon will be issuing the update, so who do you think customers will come running to when their phones break? I’ll give you a hint and it rhymes with “horizon”. Plus, Samsung has already hamstrung phones by not allowing them to charge beyond 60%, so what’s the big deal, right? Of course, it’s possible a Samsung Note 7 doesn’t need a full capacity to break, so that’s the big deal.
Personal responsibilityBut let’s look at this from a consumer’s point of view as well. Samsung has issued a recall twice here, and this story has been covered and covered to death – fortunately, not literally. But it’s not like people don’t know what’s going on with these things. Doesn’t there have to be a point at which personal responsibility comes into play with something like this? Samsung has done everything short of breaking the phone at this point. Plus, it has made it crystal clear that the phone is dangerous and needs to be sent home. If people want to hold on to some kind of collector’s item, shouldn’t they be allowed to?
After all, I consider it quite Darwinian. I’m starting to take Verizon’s side more and more here, but more so to facilitate removing some deserving folks from the gene pool. Let’s face it people, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a dangerous phone, and Samsung has rightly washed its hands of it. It’s literally just trying to save people from themselves. But Verizon is getting in the way of that.
Nobody is perfectI get it, this isn’t all that cut and dried. In a perfect world, this wouldn’t even be an issue and people would use common sense and send their phones in. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Carriers have the right to review software updates before they are issued to their paying customers. It’s not crazy to think a carrier wouldn’t be fond of the idea of intentionally breaking phones, even if the original manufacturer is.
Well, I think it’s no secret by this point whose side I’m on. I mean, I get why Verizon would protest, but I’m not so sure that it should. Samsung is trying to end this soap opera in a decisive way, and I respect that, even if I hate the fact that it came to this in the first place. But what about you? Do you think Verizon is right to hold back this update? Do you think Samsung is right for wanting to deliver the death stroke? Sound off below in the comments. It’s a little early in the week for a weekend debate, but this story could qualify as that. So let’s see if we can figure this out.
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As most United States Galaxy Note 7 owners — at least those that remain — are going to be holding with a useless device come the new year or thereabouts, European customers are edging closer to their recalled device’s obsolescence.
Samsung UK has announced that a software update will be launched on December 15, limiting the maximum battery charge for the Note 7 to 30 percent. An earlier update put in place a 60 percent limit.
We will need to suspect that other countries around the world — where devices are also stuck at a 60 percent top — will see a similar update hitting their airwaves soon. It is not known why Samsung has taken such varying strategies in pressing Note 7 owners to return the item for an exchange or refund.
The Note 7 was recalled for its tendency to explode during normal use.
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While 93 percent of all recalled Galaxy Note 7 units in the United States have been put away from public consumption, Samsung wants push that number to 100.
It has officially announced that devices not deactivated through a product refund or exchange will receive a software update that will cut off the charging and connectivity functions starting December 19. But delivery of that update has been left to cellular carriers — and one of them has refused to carry the update out.
An SMS text from US Cellular indicated that it will be the first to push forward with the deactivating update, sending first seeds out on December 15. In the case of T-Mobile, it stated that the update will roll out starting December 27. AT&T will follow on January 5 while Sprint will push out the same package from January 8.
Verizon has refused to push the update because it believes that the update may pose an “added risk” to Note 7 owners who still happen to be using the phone and have not been able to, for one reason or another, switch away from it.
“We will not push a software upgrade that will eliminate the ability for the Note7 to work as a mobile device in the heart of the holiday travel season,” said Vice President of Global Corporate Communications Jeffrey Nelson, “We do not want to make it impossible to contact family, first responders or medical professionals in an emergency situation.”
As already noted, AT&T and Sprint have pointedly set their update dates to well after when the new year begins.
Samsung and the carriers continue to offer incentives for customers to exchange their Note 7 units for another phone or get a refund.
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Shortly after Samsung Canada’s announcement detailing the relief of the Galaxy Note 7’s wireless capabilities, there are signs that US units may see Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular connectivity go — along with everything else.
In an SMS missive from US Cellular obtained by The Verge, Samsung has decided to initiate its firmest measure yet in getting Note 7 users to exchange their phones — by sending out an update that will prevent the device from charging.
“THE PHONE WILL NO LONGER WORK,” the message concludes.
Since US Cellular is placing the responsibility of this software modification squarely on Samsung, it is likely that the outstanding recalled phones on all other US carriers will get the same update. This goes beyond the pale of limiting the battery’s charge to 60 percent and is closer to what was thought to happen to French Note 7 units — a kill switch.
Samsung declined comment on the issue. US Cellular did not respond to a request for comment.
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New Zealand networks have tossed them aside and so have their neighbors just to the west. Samsung has now decided to take the complete shutdown of the Galaxy Note 7 to the Great White North.
While Samsung Canada reports that it has received about 90 percent of all recalled units, it has decided to take the extra step of making sure that those remaining 10 percent or so have no incentive to use the recalled, fire-prone phone.
An update that will be issued as early as December 12 will block the Note 7’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality in addition to limiting its maximum battery charge. On December 15, the Note 7 will also lose cellular access as well, with the exception of 911 calls.
A continuous push notification campaign is notifying customers of the impending, mandatory update.
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While Cupertino’s unusually prompt reaction to relatively widespread iPhone 6 and 6s “bricking” issues in China was certainly praiseworthy, Samsung’s recent Galaxy Note 7 explosion fiasco and especially the confusion still surrounding the phablet’s discontinuation taught Apple quick answers were also imperative.
Hopefully, the “information about the iPhone accidental shutdown” just shared on the tech giant’s regional support webpages has been a little more thoroughly researched, checked and double-checked than the competition’s first Note 7 quality inspection findings.
Apparently, it’s not a “security issue” that caused a “small number” of iPhone 6s units produced between September and October 2015 to randomly freeze, halt all operations, and refuse to charge or boot back up.
Instead, believe it or not, air was the culprit here. Specifically, a central battery component’s exposure to “controlled ambient air for too long” before said component was “loaded into the battery pack.” That sure sounds… unusual, so much so in fact that we believe it may well check out. It’s simply too weird to be fabricated.
It also means that, for the “affected” iPhone 6s range, everything should be a-okay after Apple’s voluntary free battery replacement program. But another “small number of customers” outside this “area” have been reporting unexpected shutdowns as well, and “more information” is needed ahead of a verdict, battery swap or recall, with an “additional diagnostic feature” coming as part of an iOS software update next week.
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Samsung has hired a law firm to fend off a class action lawsuit in Korea over physical damages and suffering from exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.
The suit, backed by some 2,400 individuals, stems from a group of five persons who claim burns and respiratory problems due to the Note 7’s battery exploding. The phone has been recalled and is not being produced.
“My replacement Note 7 had caught fire while it was placed on my bed,” wrote one plaintiff on a legal forum created by Harvest Law Office, the firm representing the class in this case. “Fortunately I did not suffer any physical damage as it was covered in a phone case with a credit card inserted, both of which melted.”
Attorneys are seeking an award of ₩42 million — that’s ₩500,000 or $424 per person in the class it represents.
Local news outlets are reporting that the chaebol has hired a law firm to respond to the suit and has issued a letter to the court. It is said to read in part:
We gave enough compensations and benefits to Note 7 consumers. The damages consumers are claiming are within the range that is endurable […] We recalled all the products resulting in a loss of nearly 10 trillion won in order to minimize risk that consumers may face.
Compensation so far has come in the form of ₩100,000 ($86) in vouchers and a promised half-off discount for Note 7 customers who upgrade to the Galaxy S8, estimated to range between ₩400,000 and ₩500,000 ($341-424).
Samsung has declined comment on the matter.
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The Galaxy Note 7’s battery smothered Samsung’s 2016. Burst after fiery burst led to a drawn-out, multi-step recall and financial repercussions that will echo for sometime. But did Samsung do its due diligence in determining the problem and communicating it to the public?
Its official line, via its UK arm, was that some of the batteries’ intake and output points were put too near to each other. That allowed charge and discharge streams to merge, causing the thermal runaway. Other sources from within the company have pointed across the board from cell fabric tension to shoddy work with insulation tape.
Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, founder and CEO of design engineering firm Instrumental, decided to look into why an assembly process couldn’t have been tweaked instead of what had actually happened.
In a teardown and analysis of a single unit, her team had found that normal operation of the Galaxy Note 7 allowed the phone to expand and encroach upon the battery. This put inward pressure against the positive cell layer and the negative cell layer, along with the insulating layers in between. When these layers are squeezed too closely, the insulation essentially becomes useless as the charged layers begin to feed energy into each other and ramp up the temperature, thus risking fumes and explosion.
The fact that Samsung decided to fit a 3,500mAh battery into a fairly small space amplifies the potential impact — whether it was safely able to is not up for debate.
“Battery testing takes a notoriously long time (as long as a year for certain tests), and thousands of batteries need to be tested to get significant results” Shedletsky said. “It’s possible that Samsung’s innovative battery manufacturing process was changing throughout development, and that the newest versions of the batteries weren’t tested with the same rigor as the first samples.”
The designed tolerance for the battery slot beside the pulsing PCB, at some points down below 0.1mm, also doesn’t help. Hell, there wasn’t even any breathing space on the Z-axis where there should’ve been at least a 10 percent allowance.
Instrumental determined that even if Samsung kept the Note 7 on the market, many customers would see their phones warp over time. On the other hand, we infer that Shedletsky believes that the chaebol would’ve needed to install a battery below the capacity of the Galaxy Note 5 and the iPhone 7 Plus in order to keep the smartphone’s design, as it was, safe.
“Either way, it’s now clear to us that there was no competitive salvageable design,” Shedletsky concluded.
Samsung made it a clear point to load all the useful technology it could that it didn’t for the Note 5 into its 2016 powerhouse release: expandable memory, some form of waterproofing, a super-capable stylus, curb-appeal looks and a gas tank to let it chug. The company tried to innovate where it could to make as little compromise as possible.
What resulted was the largest compromise in the consumer mobile market in recent history.
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Samsung will not rest until every single faulty and hazardous Galaxy Note 7 finds its way back to the original place of purchase, and eventually, the chaebol’s warehouses for safe destruction.
After cutting the explosive phablet off from nationwide New Zealand carrier support a little while ago, the unchallenged leader of global smartphone sales has earlier today announced a similar network discontinuation move in neighboring Australia.
Although Note 7 users down under are said to “have responded well to the recent recall, with only a small number of affected devices still in customers’ hands”, December 15 will apparently see the latest (and last) “safety measure” employed to ensure the recovery of all “affected devices.”
Of course, one could wonder what’s taking Samsung so long to enact the most drastic measures of eradicating these ticking time bombs. More importantly, why mobile operators in other countries, including the US, aren’t following Telstra, Optus and Vodafone Australia’s example. Has Samsung managed to expand the “nearly” 85 percent American return rate to 100 percent in the past few weeks?
Probably not, but at the same time, Note 7 fire reports have long stopped, so something must be working. Maybe the battery charge-limiting software update that rolled out in Australia earlier this month.
In any event, you have two more weeks to give back the dangerous phone around those parts before you’re denied cellular service, and get a refund for the difference between Note 7 and S7 or S7 Edge’s prices, plus a $250 freebie. If you’re willing to stick with Samsung, that is.
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Are you ready to forgive Samsung for its poor handling of the Galaxy Note 7 recall? Maybe you’ll take the company’s offer up on getting a Galaxy S8 at a discount? Perhaps you’ll take a few apologies?
Well, Samsung France has decided to make sure its customers know that they are very much appreciated. Former Note 7 owners are now receiving 128GB microSD cards in the mail along with an invitation to an SMS contest where the customer can get one of 1,000 free trip packages to the Samsung Life Changer Park, the virtual reality theme park Samsung has established in Paris. Transport is provided and winners can bring a guest along for a date on Tuesday, December 20. or 27.
SamMobile, which received a letter from a Note 7 customer, points out that these measures are piled on top of a €100 rebate when those users transferred over to a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.
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