Samsung’s unprecedented recall of the Galaxy Note 7 – The Verge

Samsung’s refurbished Galaxy Note 7 will reportedly go on sale in June

2017-04-26T05:07:27-04:00

Last month, Samsung confirmed it would be selling refurbished Note 7 devices, and now we know where and when the phones will go on sale. According to a report from ET News (via SamMobile) the recycled Note 7 will be available in South Korea from three carriers this June.

Branding and pricing are still being negotiated, but the handset will reportedly go on sale as the Galaxy Note 7 R with a price tag of around 700,000 won. That's about $620, or 300,000 won ($266) cheaper than the original. Around 300,000 units of the 3 million to 4 million Note 7 phones recalled in the region will reportedly go on sale.

ET News notes that the Note 7 R is s …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Greenpeace protesters interrupted Samsung’s MWC presentation

2017-02-26T15:15:59-05:00

During Samsung's presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Greenpeace protesters unfurled banners to call attention to the company's handling of the disposal of millions of recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones.

Greenpeace protestor takes the stage at Samsung #MWC2017 conference. "I think you've made your point" says Samsung exec. pic.twitter.com/wdajZZ9vK0
- Andrew Lanxon (@Batteryhq) February 26, 2017

A protester stood on the steps of the stage while Samsung Electronics Europe's chief marketing officer, David Lowes, made his opening remarks, according to Sam Mobile. The yellow banner was emblazoned with Samsung's logo, the rec …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung bounces back from Note 7 recall with its best quarter in three years

2017-01-23T20:18:19-05:00

Photo by James Bareham" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6944245/jbareham_160811_1180_A_0176.0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

It turns out that Samsung's business is doing just fine following one of its most embarrassing product fumbles in recent memory. The company posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings today in line with expectations outlined this month, earning 9.2 trillion won (about $7.2 billion) in profit on sales of 53.3 trillion won (about $45.8 billion). That's a more than 50 percent jump in profit from the same period a year ago. It also makes this quarter Samsung's most profitable in more than three years, despite the Galaxy Note 7 recall that has embroiled the South Korean company in controversy for the last five months.

Just this past Sunday, Samsung r …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung says bad batteries and rushed manufacturing doomed the Galaxy Note 7

2017-01-22T20:13:06-05:00

Samsung has finally released the results of the inquiry it commissioned into exactly what went wrong with the Galaxy Note 7, an acclaimed smartphone that had to be pulled from the market entirely last year after widespread reports of fires caused by the device.

The company says there were two separate flaws with the Galaxy Note 7's batteries. The first battery had a design flaw in the upper right corner that could cause a short circuit, according to Recode, while the second battery - used for replacement units - had a manufacturing issue that could lead to fires because of a welding defect. Some units of the second battery were also missing …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung Note 7 investigation will blame ‘irregularly sized’ batteries and manufacturing flaws, says WSJ

2017-01-20T05:25:47-05:00

Samsung's official investigation into the cause of widespread faults with the Galaxy Note 7 will blame "irregularly sized" batteries and manufacturing faults, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The company is set to announce the results of its inquiry this weekend, but the WSJ claims to have revealed its conclusions early, citing information from "people familiar with the matter."

The WSJ says Samsung hired three independent "quality-control and supply-chain analysis firms" to conduct its investigation, with these firms concluding that two separate faults affected the Note 7.

The first fault relates to devices that used ba …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung will reveal the cause of the Galaxy Note 7’s exploding battery this Sunday

2017-01-19T18:20:03-05:00

Samsung announced today that it would reveal its investigative findings on the recalled Galaxy Note 7 this Sunday evening. The press conference is taking place in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, January 23rd at 10AM. Due to the time difference, it will be live streamed for English speakers at 8PM ET on Sunday, January 22nd.

The phone, which was prone to overheating and in some cases exploding, was first recalled back in September just weeks after it first went on sale following reports of battery-related issues. The ensuing debacle resulted in millions of returned phones, a FAA-mandated flight ban, and a convoluted return policy process that …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Verizon still has ‘thousands’ of customers using the recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7

2017-01-17T18:47:24-05:00

There are still "thousands" of Verizon customers in possession of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, the carrier recently told Fortune. And that's even after a very public recall, endless plane announcements, and a software update meant to permanently stop the smartphone from charging. "In spite of our best efforts, there are still customers using the recalled phones who have not returned or exchanged their Note 7 to the point of purchase," Verizon told Fortune. "The recalled Note 7s pose a safety risk to our customers and those around them."

At this point, clearly some people are just intentionally holding onto the phone. So Verizon is taking yet mo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

A flight was late because someone named their Wi-Fi hotspot ‘Galaxy Note 7’

2016-12-22T17:16:06-05:00

Airlines aren't taking the ban against Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 lightly. A clever but highly irresponsible troll by a passenger aboard a Virgin America flight out of San Francisco nearly resulted in the plane being grounded and searched for the recalled smartphone. According to BBC News, someone switched the name of their portable Wi-Fi hotspot to "Galaxy Note 7_1097," which gave other passengers (and the flight's crew) the impression that Samsung's device was somewhere on the plane - and actively being used.

This resulted in numerous urgent announcements from the crew demanding that the owner of the Note 7 speak up. The captain warned that …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Verizon changes its mind and will kill Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 on January 5th

2016-12-15T15:24:05-05:00

Verizon has just announced that it plans to roll out Samsung's upcoming Note 7 update, which permanently stops the recalled smartphone from charging and disables its wireless radios, on January 5th. Only last week, the leading US carrier took a controversial stance when it said it would "not be taking part in this update because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 users that do not have another device to switch to."

The company was particularly concerned about nuking the Note 7 during the holiday travel season, something that its US rivals also seemed to take into consideration when scheduling a roll-out date for the update. …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Verizon refuses to release update that would kill Samsung’s Note 7

2016-12-09T12:20:13-05:00

Verizon will not be releasing a just-announced Galaxy Note 7 software update designed to stop the recalled smartphone from charging. In a statement, the leading US mobile carrier attributed the decision to concerns over safety for customers who might not have another mobile phone to use after the Note 7 has been crippled.

"Verizon will not be taking part in this update because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 users that do not have another device to switch to," the company's statement reads. "We will not push a software upgrade that will eliminate the ability for the Note 7 to work as a mobile device in the heart of the ho …

Read the full story at The Verge.