AT&T Considering Halting All Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Sales and Replacements

[theluggage]

as someone who used to work for the TSA, it is nearly impossible for us to stop phones from entering an aircraft. almost everyone travels with a phone and we can't search every bag to see if they have a note 7.

When I flew a few weeks ago, they were specifically calling out the Note 7 in the safety announcement and asking people not to use them. I guess in a few weeks this will migrate to a note in the in-flight magazine. Sure, that may be totally un-enforceable, but it is still poison to the brand. From time to time, on a slow nail-clipper day, a screener might refuse to pass a Note 7 and it will be reported on the interwebs. If you fly a lot, you'll have heard this announcement and sure as heck aren't going to buy a Note if it even might cause hassle at security.

I'm even grateful that my Note 2 doesn't have "Note" written in large friendly letters on the front (and also a bit sad, because the Note 7 would have been a good upgrade).

Realistically, the "Note" brand is now a dead horse that Samsung will have to stop flogging (even if the "fixed" note fire turns out to be insignificant, the damage to public perception is done).

 

[Hanzu Lao]

What would you wrapped them in, titanum enforced lead? The industry has a problem with batteries, but exploding is not the biggest of them.
[doublepost=1475917232][/doublepost]

So, are you implying that until we completely eradicate car crashes or cancer, samsung should get a way with exploding phones?

It's a deflection. Don't take him seriously.

 

[truthertech]

Seriously, if deaths of people were at all a concern to the American people they would have banned the gun long ago, that 14,000 americans murdered by gun each year...... and you wet your collective panties over a hot phone...

Yeah!! And ban cars too! 40,000 Americans killed by cars each year. And knives! Almost 2000 people were killed by knives last year! But let their military keep their weapons so they can keep coming over and saving our asses and we can keep sounding off on these bloody blogs until they ban bloody fools

 

[MRU]

Sadly another report coming out of Taiwan of a young lady whose replacement Note 7 began burning up in her back pocket.

http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/local/20161008/964168

English translation http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201610080009.aspx

"Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) A replacement model of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone exploded in Taiwan on Friday while its user was walking her dog in a park, local newspaper Apple Daily reported on Saturday.

According to the report, a 26-year-old woman surnamed Lai was walking her dog in a park in Taipei when she realized smoke was spewing from her replacement Note 7, which Lai said she had picked up just 10 days ago.

Lai said she quickly pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and threw it on the ground, then waited until the smoke cleared before picking the phone up and taking it back to her workplace in her phone case, the report said.

Apple Daily cited the woman as saying that she heard a "bang" before feeling heat on her buttocks and seeing a lot of white smoke billowing from the phone after taking it out of her pocket.

The woman said she purchased a Galaxy Note 7 in August this year, and exchanged the phone for a replacement model on Sept. 27 after seeing TV reports suggesting that the Note 7 could explode, according to the article.

In a statement issued Saturday, Samsung Taiwan said it was trying to reach the customer and hoped to recall the product and further clarify the cause of the incident.

It said it could not confirm if the phone was a replacement model without looking into the matter.

The incident came just two days after an alleged replacement model of the Note 7 began smoking aboard a Southwest Airlines in the United States on Wednesday, leading the airline to evacuate passengers on the plane.

Taiwan's Consumers' Foundation urged Samsung Taiwan on Saturday to suspend all sales and replacements of the new Galaxy Note 7, because continuing to distribute the model would be like "sending bombs to consumers."

(By Christie Chen and Yang Shu-min)"

____________________

Whether after investigation this turns out to be legit or not, the continued plague of these reports can only serve to fuse the Note 7 with the stigma/label of the "burning up phone" further into peoples conscience.

 

[theluggage]

You'd have thought the Samsung CEO stole their girlfriend or something.

I think it all stems from a period of a year or two ~2010 - the early Galaxy S models and the first Galaxy tablet did look awfully like the original iPhone and iPad, as did the packaging and some of the marketing. I remember ads from phone retailers in which the Galaxy was typically shown displaying the Android "Apps" screen - which is a rectangular grid of square App icons much like the iOS home screen - instead of the regular Android home screen which looked nothing like iOS (that always seemed particularly stupid because the customisable home screen with widgets was one area that Android scored over iOS). Samsung's tablets even 'copied' the Apple 30-pin connector (visually - it wasn't compatible) when a MicroUSB would have made more sense.

However, that was a flash in the pan - Apple went with the iPhone 4 design anyway, and Samsung started offering features that Apple didn't do, like large screens. Apple should have been paying way more attention to that rather than suing Samsung: the Note 7 was a far more interesting device than the iPhone 7 and Apple are really, really lucky that it has hit problems.

Also, some of the features in modern iOS - like swipe-down notification screens with wifi/airplane mode/bluetooth etc. buttons, look uncannily like ideas that first appeared in Samsung's Android UIs.

Basically, yeah, 2010 phoned and wants its copying accusations back.
[doublepost=1475927548][/doublepost]

Sadly another report coming out of Taiwan of a young lady whose replacement Note 7 began burning up in her back pocket.

Aside: Does anybody actually believe that that tiny area of pixellation around her eyes would stop somebody identifying her (oh, and they missed the tattoo)?

 

[Kajje]

I'll be flying across the ocean on a 6 hour flight in two weeks. A fire midflight would mean 3 hours to turn around or continue onward if one of these things blew up. Not a good feeling.

You do know there are airports between point A and B on your 6 hour flight right?

 

[Schizoid]

I still chuckle when I see that advert for Samsung touting it's waterproof properties. (The one where the bloke drops it in the sink)
...this is obviously a necessity now to stop it exploding and killing you and your new girlfriend!

 

[elmaco]

Samsung copies iPhone:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-ui-interface-improvement

and now they make phones that overheat and catch fire, potentially killing customers if it happens whlle they sleep.

They claim IP68 rating for S7, compared to IP67 for iPhone 7, but when tested in real condition the Apple phone is better!

Samsung, what a miserable company. I will never buy their low quality copies.

 

[.Joel]

Well now that Samesung has spent 2% of it's budget on inventing a new feature called 'exploding phone' they can return to relentlessly cloning Apple now with their new 'siri-siri.'

 

[tentales]

Well that's kind of a thing around here. You'd have thought the Samsung CEO stole their girlfriend or something. It's both comical yet sad tbh.
....
And the Apple fandom on here needs to calm down.

Well said.
This new generation of Apple fans are more defensive in every way than way back in 80s PC vs Mac wars, for those old enough to remember. It's more sad than anything seeing that blind love for a product or company is so misplaced and inevitably leads to disappointment and embarrassment. I guess self-image overrides rational thought in some.

Samsung makes some great products and many components that Apple uses. Some people still don't realize how interconnected the industry is and faulting just Samsung is very short-sighted.

Have a scan thru this:
https://www.apple.com/kr/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Suppliers.pdf

Apple's long list of suppliers includes "Samsung SDI" the battery manufacturer that built 65% of the Note 7 batteries and taking the most blame for the fire occurrences.

The industry needs to accelerate change to safer batteries. Many are in late research stages and could be viable alternatives if the big phone & laptop manufacturer retool and start pushing their own R&D labs.

Down the road, if this happens to Apple I'll refrain from telling you "I told you so".
So please people, have some perspective on this unfortunate mishap and stop piling on and contain your Schadenfreude.

Yes, the Note 7 is "toast" and Samsung will surely follow this logical advice:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/7/13198682/samsung-galaxy-note-7-dumpster-fire

 

[iapplelove]

Great.. now the iPhone 7 just got even harder to get

If the next iPhone is as ground breaking as the innitial rumors are saying..they may have won the smartphone war with Sammy.

 

[sinsin07]

I think it all stems from a period of a year or two ~2010 - ...snip

Don't need to go back that far. Its stuff like this that is fuels the post.
Hopefully Samsuck has learned a thing a two.

 

[Robert.Walter]

"...has ended up costing Samsung millions in recall fees and replacements."

Unless the author means "thousands of millions", I think there is a mistake here.

 

[FFR]

Sadly another report coming out of Taiwan of a young lady whose replacement Note 7 began burning up in her back pocket.

http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/local/20161008/964168

English translation http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201610080009.aspx

"Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) A replacement model of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone exploded in Taiwan on Friday while its user was walking her dog in a park, local newspaper Apple Daily reported on Saturday.

According to the report, a 26-year-old woman surnamed Lai was walking her dog in a park in Taipei when she realized smoke was spewing from her replacement Note 7, which Lai said she had picked up just 10 days ago.

Lai said she quickly pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and threw it on the ground, then waited until the smoke cleared before picking the phone up and taking it back to her workplace in her phone case, the report said.

Apple Daily cited the woman as saying that she heard a "bang" before feeling heat on her buttocks and seeing a lot of white smoke billowing from the phone after taking it out of her pocket.

The woman said she purchased a Galaxy Note 7 in August this year, and exchanged the phone for a replacement model on Sept. 27 after seeing TV reports suggesting that the Note 7 could explode, according to the article.

In a statement issued Saturday, Samsung Taiwan said it was trying to reach the customer and hoped to recall the product and further clarify the cause of the incident.

It said it could not confirm if the phone was a replacement model without looking into the matter.

The incident came just two days after an alleged replacement model of the Note 7 began smoking aboard a Southwest Airlines in the United States on Wednesday, leading the airline to evacuate passengers on the plane.

Taiwan's Consumers' Foundation urged Samsung Taiwan on Saturday to suspend all sales and replacements of the new Galaxy Note 7, because continuing to distribute the model would be like "sending bombs to consumers."

(By Christie Chen and Yang Shu-min)"

____________________

Whether after investigation this turns out to be legit or not, the continued plague of these reports can only serve to fuse the Note 7 with the stigma/label of the "burning up phone" further into peoples conscience.

Design flaw.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Yeah, I think that's most of the story here. Stuff happens. Samsung, by all objective measures, really did try to do the right thing when things went bad, but they still didn't seem able to get ahead of events.

I think this should be a lesson to all companies: have a contingency plan for disaster. Planning for disaster is not inviting disaster-- it's a hedge against it.

Problem was not with the plan, a good plan is easy to make in short order.

The problem is in the people who are making the decisions. Their obvious bias toward underestimating the problem/greed as opposed to protecting the customer is obvious.

 

[citysnaps]

Reread my comment about Samsung to get my feelings. But no, the industry really does have a big problem. I don't want my device batteries made so cheaply, they are just wrapped in plastics. I want industry to make more durable battery packs. All brands. Period.

It is actually easy to make batteries safer and contain a failure. It really it. It's an industry problem, no one wants to be exposed to a failing battery on ground or up in the air travelling on a plane. That's all.

Stop engaging in deflection and apologizing for Samsung. You're attempting to create a narrative that doesn't hold water.

It's clear where the blame lies. Being under immense pressure, Samsung rushed their design in order to release the Note 7 phone to market before Apple's new iPhone. And now they're paying the consequences. Click here for an in-depth story about that from Bloomberg.

When you say "It is actually easy to make batteries safer and contain a failure," you're asserting you have experience in this area. You don't. And you don't know what you're talking about, having neither the knowledge or even a general background in engineering/physics, and more so in the development of compact fast-charge high-performance high-density/capacity LiIon battery systems.

Regarding what you are proposing, attempting to contain runaway super-high temperature accelerating gas generation due to Lithium-ion battery failure caused by poor design in a sealed metal structure would quickly create enormous pressures and result in an explosion. There's a reason LiIon battery construction is what it is, shrouded in appropriate material with integral safety vents. It's Samsung's responsibility to ensure their battery's charge and discharge profiles along with mechanical fitment within the phone, are in line with the battery's specification and design. Samsung's eagerness to get their product to market taking shortcuts in engineering is the problem. Not the industry's.

 

[KmanOz]

If only they could trigger the explosion with an API call and let 3rd party developers in on the exploding action.

Imagine 'Boom Beach' then. It would be more like BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM Beach. Now that's a point of difference !!!

 

[Mudcat62]

The bad thing is that the Note 7 kills the IP7 Plus. I wish I could get that phone.. I'll just stick with IP7 since I have no choice

You can get a Note 7 go ahead I will take your plus, still waiting for mine

The bad thing is that the Note 7 kills the IP7 Plus. I wish I could get that phone.. I'll just stick with IP7 since I have no choice

you can get a Note 7, I will take your plus since I am still waiting for mine...

 

[smacrumon]

Stop engaging in deflection and apologizing for Samsung. You're attempting to create a narrative that doesn't hold water.

It's clear where the blame lies. Being under immense pressure, Samsung rushed their design in order to release the Note 7 phone to market before Apple's new iPhone. And now they're paying the consequences. Click here for an in-depth story about that from Bloomberg.

When you say "It is actually easy to make batteries safer and contain a failure," you're asserting you have experience in this area. You don't. And you don't know what you're talking about, having neither the knowledge or even a general background in engineering/physics, and more so in the development of compact fast-charge high-performance high-density/capacity LiIon battery systems.

Regarding what you are proposing, attempting to contain runaway super-high temperature accelerating gas generation due to Lithium-ion battery failure caused by poor design in a sealed metal structure would quickly create enormous pressures and result in an explosion. There's a reason LiIon battery construction is what it is, shrouded in appropriate material with integral safety vents. It's Samsung's responsibility to ensure their battery's charge and discharge profiles along with mechanical fitment within the phone, are in line with the battery's specification and design. Samsung's eagerness to get their product to market taking shortcuts in engineering is the problem. Not the industry's.

Ha. You don't know what you are talking about. You also need to refrain from supporting poor industry practices.

Apple batteries explode, Samsung batteries explode even more. The technology used in both brands is rubbish. Safer batteries now.

All solid state li-ion batteries based on garnet-type fast li+ conductors, unlike conventional ones, consist entirely of solid chemical compounds and are non-flammable.

I know you don't want to hear it, but there is a better way for all the industry to move to, that includes Samsung, that includes Apple too.

https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-eve...08/all-solid-state-lithium-ion-batteries.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160720105038.htm

Ten years on, little change in the industry.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/406334/safer-lithium-ion-batteries/

 

[magbarn]

I am not a Samsung apologist and you needn't feel embarrassed for anyone....well maybe. I am just trying to put some of this dross into perspective.

Folks are are being warned to keep their phones switched off before take-off; however on the same planes that use the same technology who have yet to solve their issue of burning batteries & hold fires [other than to encase them in a fire-proof box].

There are inherent issues with these types of batteries and any manufacturer could fall victim [as many have]. And before you race of into they released phones without proper testing, Boeing dont have a annual cycle of devices and probably one of the most respected engineering authorities in the world, who spent more than decade designing the 787 still had issues. To put in the further into perspective, they had battery issues in nearly half of their systems, as opposed to a few dozen in millions.

Samsung could have done no more; they have not killed anyone and they have recalled 100% of their phones. What would you have done if you are so clever?

The outcome of this issue, if you want my opinion is that ALL phones will have to be switched off on flights. I suspect you are too young to remember the days when laptops could only be used on flights if their batteries were removed.

You do realize a fully charged lion battery has much more energy in it and more likely to burn than a discharged one? Also, if a lion battery was made defective it can eventually blow up on its own regardless whether the device is on or off.
My guess is Samsung is charging these batteries too fast and their circuits are possibly reading the voltage wrong and bringing the battery to too high of a voltage. Once you go over 4.2volts the risk of spontaneous combustion of a lithium battery goes way up.

EDIT: There are some lithium batteries that have been designed to go up to 4.3V for better capacity, but I'm not so sure they're just as safe as the lower voltage types. Samsung could probably fix this by a bios flash limiting the max voltage of the battery at the cost of reduced capacity.

 

[barkomatic]

You do know there are airports between point A and B on your 6 hour flight right?

He said in the comment you quoted that he was flying over the ocean.

 

[Kajje]

He said in the comment you quoted that he was flying over the ocean.

There you go, plenty of water to extinguish that fire. Oh wait a minute...

 

[magbarn]

Ha. You don't know what you are talking about. You also need to refrain from supporting poor industry practices.

Apple batteries explode, Samsung batteries explode even more. The technology used in both brands is rubbish. Safer batteries now.

All solid state li-ion batteries based on garnet-type fast li+ conductors, unlike conventional ones, consist entirely of solid chemical compounds and are non-flammable.

I know you don't want to hear it, but there is a better way for all the industry to move to, that includes Samsung, that includes Apple too.

https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-eve...08/all-solid-state-lithium-ion-batteries.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160720105038.htm

Ten years on, little change in the industry.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/406334/safer-lithium-ion-batteries/

Ummmm I don't think a battery that runs best at 95C is the best thing to have in your pocket.
If this type of battery was so superior don't you think apple or Samsung would've jumped on it already to get a lead on the competition? It probably has poor characteristics like less charge capacity or too slow charging at ambient temperatures as it seems to work better when hot.

 

[Kajje]

Ummmm I don't think a battery that runs best at 95C is the best thing to have in your pocket.

95C will result in 3rd degrees burning wounds on your crotch.
A li-ion battery catching fire technically doesn't leave any burning wounds at all.

 

[realeric]

Another new "safe(Samsung claimed)" Note 7 exploded.

.

The other explosion today...