Samsung to permanently disable any remaining US Galaxy Note 7 models
Samsung is reportedly adopting even harsher methods to prevent people from using the few remaining Galaxy Note 7s in the wild, planning an imminent U.S. software update that will render them useless.
On Dec. 19 Samsung will push out an update preventing the phones from charging, according to a statement to The Verge. The code will be distributed through all major U.S. carriers within 30 days.
Samsung noted that 93 percent of Note 7s sold in the country have already been returned. The update is meant to get people to participate in a long-standing recall offering refunds and exchanges, sometimes with extra financial incentives.
The company has been gradually escalating its software tactics. American Note 7 models are already unable to charge past 60 percent, and in Canada, Samsung will soon be disabling all wireless functions.
Shortly after its launch late this summer, the Note 7 was plagued by a series of battery fires and explosions, possibly owing to an ultra-compact design rushed to beat Apple's iPhone 7. Samsung attempted to recall and fix the initial batch of units, but this didn't solve the problem, forcing the company to issue another recall and discontinue the product entirely.
On Dec. 19 Samsung will push out an update preventing the phones from charging, according to a statement to The Verge. The code will be distributed through all major U.S. carriers within 30 days.
Samsung noted that 93 percent of Note 7s sold in the country have already been returned. The update is meant to get people to participate in a long-standing recall offering refunds and exchanges, sometimes with extra financial incentives.
The company has been gradually escalating its software tactics. American Note 7 models are already unable to charge past 60 percent, and in Canada, Samsung will soon be disabling all wireless functions.
Shortly after its launch late this summer, the Note 7 was plagued by a series of battery fires and explosions, possibly owing to an ultra-compact design rushed to beat Apple's iPhone 7. Samsung attempted to recall and fix the initial batch of units, but this didn't solve the problem, forcing the company to issue another recall and discontinue the product entirely.
Comments
One final software update that will basically kill the phone! It's similar to taking a very sick patient and pulling them off of life support!
That's one Android update that I can approve of! That's probably the best Android software update to have ever been released, in the entire history of Android, also known as the dark ages!
Source: http://www.samsung.com/us/note7recall/?CID=AFL-hq-mul-0813-11000170
There will still be some holdouts after this update. It will not prevent all mobile use and may still require yet another update. Out of spite those users will be seen with their Note 7's attached with cables to external battery packs or using them as audio sources in cars. Any remaining battery charge from before the update can still be a threat.
This is still another failure from Samsung. They need to totally brick the phones. The only ones left in use after that are ones that don't receive updates.
Samsung: "NOTE 7's not s7's!!!!!!!!"
Looks like Samsung is trying for a CYA move. If one of these holdout’s Note 7s blows up in their face can they still hold Samsung liable after willfully ignoring the recall and willfully rejecting the update? But the really sad thing is Samsung will fully recover from this debacle. A year from now when the S8 or Note 8 is released it will be as if nothing happened. All the tech bloggers are giving Samsung a pass on this. They still gush about how great the Note 7 is/was and how the S8 and Note 8 will be God’s gift to humanity, perfect in every way. We already know that Samsung sales haven’t been hit all that hard and the mass movement to the iPhone 7 hasn’t happened either. I guess consumer don’t really care about this.
The likely case is that the remaining 280000 or so phones still out there were re-imported into China or South America, or were "jailbroken" with firmware to ignore such updates.
It's also very likely that they're not going to recover the remaining phones.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-holdouts-wont-give-up-their-fire-prone-galaxy-notes-1477488021
I always hear Android users talking about how superior their devices are, Apple users rarely do this, Apple users mostly defend the choice to spend more in the face of attacks from people who bought what they perceive to be a better value option. Notice in the article there, it's techie guys again who think they know better than everyone else, even the manufacturer of the product who says it's defective. Some of the comments are deluded:
"In one public Twitter exchange, Andrew Custer, a San Francisco lighting designer, told Samsung’s support team he had no plans of turning in his Note 7, saying “there is no comparable phone.”"
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8065&idPhone2=8082
No comparable phone because of what? A stylus bundled with it?
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-7-vs-apple-iphone-7-plus
"I can't see me ever buying an Iphone again, or owning any phone without the use of an S pen. Hopefully i wont ever be forced to. Long Live the NOTE!"
Here's a video of what it looks like when the battery goes on fire (2:50):
It's about time we had some safer batteries for every device but holding onto a known defective product that can burst into flames like that and endanger people around you because you like to scribble on your phone is ridiculous. It's good they are bricking them and for the phone companies that don't want to do this, at least put a message on the phone saying it's being recalled and have the user acknowledge that they are willing to put other people at risk so that it passes some liability onto them.
Okay, been over 2 yrs since I have been on Andriod, however, when I was, updates just did not install without you being involved in the update. Do Samsung/Carrier just push these update without you knowing. If that is the case I would not be happy since I do not update until I am sure people are not have issues.
I still see people at airports not being allowed on plane with their Samsung phones, they have to prove it is not the one being banned. United made a big deal of it. This probably the issue that Samsung is being forced to deal with.
Actually it was not a design issue with Apple it was a battery technology issue and Apple was not the only company hit with the problem. Yes company make turd products and have quality issues, it comes down to how they handle it. Also in this case Samsung rushed the product to market and did not do the necessary testing, otherwise, they would have seen the problem since it was design issue not a manufacturing process issue with the batteries which may have changes over time.
Apple still have their fair share of issues, but more time is corner use cases where it shows up or something obviously change over time.