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Samsung Blames Galaxy SIII Burn On "External Energy Source"

Posted by timothy on from the but-I-used-the-defrost-setting dept.

MojoKid writes "Samsung has some great news for Galaxy SIII smartphone owners. As it turns out, your mobile device isn't at risk of overheating to the point where it catches on fire and burns through its casing, as a forum member at Boards.ie claimed was the case with his Galaxy SIII a couple of weeks ago. [Note: And has since retracted.] Fire Investigations UK (FIUK), an independent third-party organization, assisted Samsung with looking into the matter, and here's what they concluded: 'The energy source responsible for generating the heat has been determined as external to the device... the device was not responsible for the cause of the fire,' FIUK said in a statement. 'The only way it was possible to produce damage similar to the damage recorded within the owner's damaged device was to place the devices or component parts within a domestic microwave.'"

6 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Let me get this straight by LordLucless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So it's not Samsung doing the blaming, it's an independent, third party investigating party. And the scare quotes around the mysterious "External Energy Source" actually refer to a microwave, which the owner's friend apparently used to dry out his phone.

    So, why wasn't the title "Microwave discovered to be cause of Galaxy SIII Burn"? Why are we trying to spin the headline to make it look like Samsung's making excuses for itself?

    --
    Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    1. Re:Let me get this straight by idontgno · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Put your phone in a zip-lock bag and pour a load of rice in with it.

      And, as always, wise and well-intentioned advice leaves out critical information.

      Uncooked rice. Not steamed rice, not boiled rice, not parboiled rice, not fried rice, not Spanish rice, not risotto ,not Rice-o-Roni (which isn't entirely rice anyway), not Jerry Rice or Donna Rice or Rice, Kansas.

      Seriously. Packing your slightly-moistened phone into a baggie of steaming hot cooked rice WILL NOT HELP.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  2. Re:If I remember correctly... by src1138 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And yet this still makes the front page of Slashdot - with a spin-laden misleading title.

    MojoKid - you are an ass, and so is the moderator.

  3. Re:License for mobile phones by StripedCow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I suggest that people should need a license to use advanced technology like mobile phones.

    That may cost Apple its market share.

    --
    If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
  4. Re:If I remember correctly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MojoKid and million_monkeys sure do look like Apple shareholders.

    An accurate title would be:
    Kid microwaves phone and blames Samsung when phone explodes

  5. Re:If I remember correctly... by asdf7890 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A fairer title might have been "Idiot puts phone in microwave, phone and phone's manufacturer found unlike to be to blame".

    Depending on how you read the title as it currently stands (Samsung Blames Galaxy SIII Burn On "External Energy Source") it could suggest there is a question of Samsung being to blame and that they are trying to pass the buck.