Confirmed: In an Unprecedented Move, Samsung Recalls All Galaxy Note 7 (yna.co.kr)

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Confirmed: In an Unprecedented Move, Samsung Recalls All Galaxy Note 7 (yna.co.kr)

Posted by msmash on Friday September 2, 2016 @01:20AM from the unprecedented-moves dept.

After delaying shipment of its flagship smartphone Galaxy Note 7 over quality control testing earlier this week, Samsung is all set to recall all of the Note 7 it has shipped in its home nation and abroad, according to rather reliable Yonhap News Agency, which is citing a Samsung official. It would be an unprecedented move from the company. From the report: The Samsung official told Yonhap News Agency that the cause of the reported explosions has been traced to the battery of the new phablet. "The most important thing is the safety of our customers and we don't want to disappoint our loyal customers," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said Samsung is expected to announce the result of its investigation into the cause of the reported explosions, as well as comprehensive countermeasures either this weekend or early next week at the latest. "Products installed with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold. The problem can be simply resolved by changing the battery, but we'll come up with convincing measures for our consumers," said the official.Samsung confirmed on Friday that it is indeed recalling the Note 7.

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battery? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 05:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

just think how easy it would have been if the phone had a user replaceable battery?
1. Re:battery? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 05:36 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  That's assuming it's the battery and not battery control hardware or software.
2. Re:battery? by tripleevenfall · 2016-09-01 05:47 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It can't be the battery, they're using the same battery to power the Facebook satellite.
3. Re:battery? by Overzeetop · 2016-09-01 05:53 · Score: 2
  
  And, lucky for us, the Slashdot submitters and editors always ensure that summaries are 100% accurate before posting.
  
  --
  Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
4. Re: battery? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  Battery controller is in the battery. Its probably the controller
5. Re: battery? by Qzukk · 2016-09-01 06:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The article I read says that the battery cells are all made by Samsung, but the pack (and controller) was made by another company. The Note 7s in China all have their battery packs made from the same Samsung cells by a different company, and those haven't exploded yet.
  
  --
  If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
6. Re:battery? by known_coward_69 · 2016-09-01 06:47 · Score: 1
  
  knowing a lot of people they would buy the cheapest on fleabay or amazon and you would get double the explosions
7. Re:battery? by ChunderDownunder · 2016-09-01 07:36 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Another website claims that phones burst into flames *while charging*.
  So its the phone trying to feed in too much juice rather than the battery otherwise spontaneously combusting during normal operation.
  So a battery with higher tolerance may solve the issue. Bad batteries vs flawed charging procedure?
8. Re: battery? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 10:40 · Score: 1
  
  Yes.
9. Re: battery? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 19:00 · Score: 1
  
  Except it has a SD card slot in the note 7...?
10. Re:battery? by jellomizer · 2016-09-01 21:50 · Score: 1
  
  And how much clunkier the device would be.
  Right now the trend is to make the devices as thin as possible.
  We will get modular devices again in the future when we get to a point where devices get too thin to be comfortable/useful so they will have thicker cases with empty space that engineers could use to put in places for ports and replaceable consumables.
  Also people are wanting lower priced electronics.
  Rarely will someone pay over $1,000 for electronics. Where back in the 1990's 2k for a PC was a good price.
  Battery quality in general has became much better. The battery in an 8 year old iPhone still works fine. Even though most people keep their current phones for about 2 -3 years.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
11. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-01 22:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And who wants them to be as thin as possible? I'm honestly asking, please, if there is ANYONE here who actually consider this a feature they're looking for in a phone, I would be genuinely interested in the reason! I do not know a single person who ever said that they'd really want their phone to be thinner.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
12. Re:battery? by thegarbz · 2016-09-01 22:36 · Score: 1
  
  just think how easy it would have been if the phone had a user replaceable battery?
  Yes just think of all those additional devices that would catch fire because users can jam any old thing from ebay in there.
13. Re:battery? by thegarbz · 2016-09-01 22:38 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I do thanks. To a point, but we're note there yet. They'll probably need to remove the camera at some point too.
14. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-01 23:07 · Score: 1
  
  Ok, what is the use case? I can't really think of a good reason why the cellphone should be as thin as possible.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
15. Re:battery? by jellomizer · 2016-09-02 00:30 · Score: 1
  
  Then make your own device.
  And try to sell it...
  However current trends show that devices targeted towards the techie crowd, with open design, extra ports and expansion.... Tend to be flops. As all those features are actually needed by such a small group of people, and the ones that do need those features will often just use a Laptop or some other device.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
16. Re: battery? by rainmouse · 2016-09-02 00:41 · Score: 1
  
  The article I read says that the battery cells are all made by Samsung, but the pack (and controller) was made by another company. The Note 7s in China all have their battery packs made from the same Samsung cells by a different company, and those haven't exploded yet.
  ... yet.
17. Re:battery? by jellomizer · 2016-09-02 00:42 · Score: 2
  
  Because that is what is popular now.
  Lets look at PC's
  The 1980's the goal were to make smaller Desktops You see things like the Commodore 64 the Apple ][... All really trying to be as small as they can make it and still be functional.
  Then during the 1990's the trend went toward big towers with ports and slots for massive expansions... That nearly no one actually filled up.
  The 2000's The mini-Tower was popular. However it still had a bunch of empty space. Where it was trendy to have a PC Window with Neon Lights and Liquid cooling with clear pipes just to make it look impressive.
  People want thin devices because thin devices look cool now. Mostly due the the fact that Thin devices were normally lighter, and were able to fit in bags/pockets much easier. However I think we are getting to a point of diminishing returns.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
18. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-02 00:57 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  But doesn't that display a wrong image of cell phones? Not all cell phones are slim, but they are all equally valid. By portraying slim cell phones as popular and preferable we subject fatter, sorry, plus-sized phones into a shame spiral that may lead to them trying to get rid of their battery pack or worse, solder it in, in a false sense of this being what we want from them.
  Cell phones, please listen! I love you just the way you are, it's not how slim you are, it's how easy your battery can be changed! That's what men really want!
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
19. Re:battery? by thegarbz · 2016-09-02 02:00 · Score: 1
  
  Ok, what is the use case?
  General use and personal preference. Not everything needs a use case. If it did we wouldn't have had smartphones in the first place as touch screens would be dead on arrival.
  Sometimes people just want nicer stuff without having to deal with pesky things like use cases. Use cases are for specific purpose phones like the Caterpillar CAT B30, not for stuff you're selling to the general population.
  If I had more of a preference I'd have a thinner bezel but a touch free zone on the border. It would look nicer but prevent inadvertent touches.
20. Re:battery? by swb · 2016-09-02 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  I'd guess the narrative was more complicated than that.
  In the 1980s, many platforms were for the most part closed and never built that much of an expansion ecosystem. The C64 was a consumer product targeting the television as a display device, it was a novelty computer. The TRS-80 and others had the "big terminal" form factor enclosing nearly everything but your printer and Hayes modem.
  The Apple ][ was hardly small and had a lot of expansion options; I think the footprint of a decked out ][ with external peripherals wasn't all that much smaller than a mini-tower form factor of today.
  The later (90s) PCs came with almost nothing on-board, you pretty much had to throw in serial cards, parallel cards, video cards, and networking cards. With a full-height HDD and two 5.25" floppies it needed a large case. Plus I think the x86 "servers" of that era borrowed the full tower form factor in many cases, so there was kind of an economy of scale component to it.
  The PC case shrunk as much devices came embedded on the motherboard, reducing the need for slots, and declining prices meant for most people that a computer became a disposable item. Consumers just replaced them rather than upgrading them when they needed to.
21. Re:battery? by shpoffo · 2016-09-02 02:34 · Score: 1
  
  “You saw a complex, philanthropic telecommunications satellite... ...co-venture between Global One and Facebook!
  Designed to help six poverty-stricken countries in the Pacific Rim. Now teenagers in Equatorial New Guinea can't meet and date because of you!”
22. Re:battery? by danomac · 2016-09-02 03:12 · Score: 1
  
  Dammit, now I have to wipe tea off my monitor!!
23. Re:battery? by danomac · 2016-09-02 03:14 · Score: 1
  
  I'd be perfectly OK with my phone being around 1cm thick if the battery lasted for 3+ days. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
24. Re:battery? by Coren22 · 2016-09-02 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  OMG! They might have to increase the size of the phone .01mm to accommodate the increased size of packaging. What will we do!?
  
  --
  APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
25. Re: battery? by ColdWetDog · 2016-09-02 03:18 · Score: 2
  
  They disapointed this loyal customer when they stopped including secondary sd card slots... dissapointed me even further when they sealed the case. What's left?
  Burning down your house seems like the logical next step, yes?
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
26. Re:battery? by PatientZero · 2016-09-02 03:53 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Do you really think they just decide to use fixed batteries just to piss you off?
  Don't be silly. They do it to force you to buy a new phone every year or two.
  "Oh, is your battery holding less charge? Just buy a new phone and you'll get a new battery for FREE!"
  
  --
  Freedom to fear. Freedom from thought. Freedom to kill.
  I guess the War on Terror really is about freedom!
27. Re:battery? by publiclurker · 2016-09-02 06:20 · Score: 1
  
  no, they do it to try to force us to buy new devices instead of getting an extra year or two out of our existing ones.
28. Re:battery? by publiclurker · 2016-09-02 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  because if you maker it thinner then it will be less clunky when you put a case on it to prevent it from being damaged due to being too thin.
29. Re:battery? by SeaFox · 2016-09-02 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  Another website claims that phones burst into flames *while charging*.
  So its the phone trying to feed in too much juice rather than the battery otherwise spontaneously combusting during normal operation.
  Isn't the circuitry that regulates charging actually part of the battery on some devices? The issue could be with the battery and not be the cells themselves.
30. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-04 20:27 · Score: 1
  
  Well, we're almost there with the last feature you desire. If you grasp it hard enough it will crumple like the tinfoil it is made of.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
31. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-04 20:28 · Score: 1
  
  No, I dare say we're probably not the only ones. 1cm is maybe a bit much, but ... hell, make it 1cm thick, if I can go for 2-3 days with GPS, Wifi and data transmit on... hell, make it an inch thick and gimme a week!
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
32. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-04 20:29 · Score: 1
  
  And behold, I can slap you in the face with it without even bending it! :)
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
33. Re:battery? by Opportunist · 2016-09-04 20:32 · Score: 1
  
  I know your pain well. I also never really figured out how to avoid that lump. You wear sleek pants and everyone's staring at that ... thing. It's really embarrassing sometimes, though some have actually commented favorably for sporting such a lump where with most it's barely noticeable.
  But still, anyone have an idea where to better put the keys?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
34. Re:battery? by alantus · 2016-09-05 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  Do you really think they just decide to use fixed batteries just to piss you off?
  They did it to make the phone 0.05 mm thinner, so yes.
35. Re:battery? by thegarbz · 2016-09-06 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  Currently limiting is part of the cells on packaged batteries, not typically the flat pack cells that are soldered in place in many devices.
36. Re:battery? by orgelspieler · 2016-09-16 06:09 · Score: 1
  
  You paid 2k and expected to be able to use it indefinitely. We didn't know back then that computers would become obsolete so fast. We thought they would be like the washing machine that lasted twenty+ years and could be repaired ad nauseum, passed on to the kids, that sort of thing. We were told you could just update components. I remember when we bought our first hard drive and upgraded the ram, and got a new video card. Making the old beast better one piece at a time. It wasn't until the mid to late 90's that it became clear you would need to upgrade frequently if you wanted to be able to use current software.
  Of course, I'm something of a luddite. I miss my old flip phone, and bemoan the loss of my optical drive. People at work were amazed that I was on an 8 year old laptop back in 2013. The replacement one really didn't improve my productivity, since all the software was bigger and slower. And two years later I had to get a third one. Same story in 2016.
  But now we know better. Now we know that the thing in our pocket will be in a landfill in two years. That's why when the accelerometer goes out, we don't stress about it. That's why when an app stops working, we assume it's our fault for having an 8-month-old dinosaur. Oh well.
  Also, I think super-thin phones are stupid.
Better safe than blown up I suppose. by foxalopex · 2016-09-01 05:39 · Score: 1

I have to admit I have no interest in this phone as my Note 3 still works perfectly fine but at the very least at least Samsung is making sure that they don't earn the reputation for their phone being faulty or explosive. So it's hard to say if this is really good or bad.
1. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2016-09-01 10:38 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  but at the very least at least Samsung is making sure that they don't earn the reputation for their phone being faulty or explosive.
  
  That's little-picture thinking - they need to think about the BIG PICTURE. This was a HUGE advertising possibility that they've now completely lost...
  "The New Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - EXPLOSIVELY Great!"
  "The New Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - So Great, It Will BLOW YOUR MIND!"
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
2. Re: Better safe than blown up I suppose. by valdezjuan · 2016-09-01 21:39 · Score: 2
  
  "The New Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - So Great, It Will BLOW OFF YOUR BALLS!!"
3. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by Opportunist · 2016-09-01 22:33 · Score: 2
  
  You know it's Samsung when that burning sensation in your dick cannot be solved by antibiotics.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
4. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by Opportunist · 2016-09-01 22:35 · Score: 1
  
  Samsung: When you WISH the burning you feel in your dick was just Gonorrhea.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
5. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2016-09-01 23:45 · Score: 1
  
  I have to admit I have no interest in this phone as my Note 3 still works perfectly fine but at the very least at least Samsung is making sure that they don't earn the reputation for their phone being faulty or explosive.
  
  I'm still on my Note 2. I am not a smartphone "power user", but I bought it because I wanted to program some apps. This phone has been horribly abused and dropped. The display has multiple cracks . . . but it still keeps ticking, like the EverReady Bunny Rabbit. I showed it to a colleague with the rank of "Fellow" in my company, and he told me that it was a mark of honor among hackers, to have a smartphone with a busted display, that still worked.
  Although the Note 2 has a replaceable battery, I've never needed to change it. In the '80s, I bought a lot of TV stuff from Sony. Then they got me angry with their rootkit, and I switched to Samsung. I'm hoping that they will get this problem sorted.
  Oh, and a minor plug here, if you have never programmed an Android app, trust yourself, and give it a go! There are great tools for this, and no rocket scientist degree required! I would also like to try doing stuff for Apple, but I don't earn enough to be able to afford their development platform :-(
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
6. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by JackieBrown · 2016-09-02 02:12 · Score: 1
  
  at the very least at least Samsung is making sure that they don't earn the reputation for their phone being faulty or explosive. So it's hard to say if this is really good or bad.
  I'm guessing for whoever sold their old phone and now has no phone, this is bad.
7. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by ColdWetDog · 2016-09-02 03:23 · Score: 1
  
  Look, I know we've all argued about the size of cell phones and all.
  But they're not that small.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
8. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by dfsmith · 2016-09-02 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Speak for yourself....
9. Re:Better safe than blown up I suppose. by Opportunist · 2016-09-04 20:34 · Score: 1
  
  Well, let's put it that way: I have no problem putting my cell phone into my pants after a ... sensual dialogue with my SO.
  It's not that easy for everything, though.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Baloney by 110010001000 · 2016-09-01 05:40 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm not sending mine back. I am using it right now to type this and it works just fi
1. Re:Baloney by unixisc · 2016-09-01 06:01 · Score: 1
  
  How did the send work if the 'ne' did not go thru?
2. Re:Baloney by ranton · 2016-09-01 06:05 · Score: 2
  
  Looks like Slashdot is tracking our posts as we type them, and submitting them for us if our session ends abruptly. I am not happy about this.
  
  --
  -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
3. Re:Baloney by 110010001000 · 2016-09-01 06:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Sorry about that. The battery ran out. I'm recharging now and everything is back to nor
4. Re:Baloney by Dishevel · 2016-09-01 07:23 · Score: 1
  
  The real problem is that he did not effectively preview before posting?
  How is that acceptable default behavior?
  
  --
  Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
5. Re:Baloney by Zalbik · 2016-09-01 08:57 · Score: 1
  
  That's where his arm landed after his battery caused an "unexpected rapid appendage detachment"
6. Re:Baloney by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2016-09-02 01:01 · Score: 1
  
  Mine makes a great hand warmer :)
  
  --
  Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
7. Re:Baloney by NatasRevol · 2016-09-02 02:07 · Score: 1
  
  That's not slashdot.
  It's the NSA hitting enter on all the funny comments everywhere.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Have to lie down in the bed you make by Solandri · 2016-09-01 06:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

The problem can be simply resolved by changing the battery
So... do they think the decision to be more Apple-like and eliminate the user-swappable battery is still a good one?
1. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  I went from a Note 2 (swappable battery) to a Note 5 (not swappable) and this will be my last phone that does not allow me to swap the battery. I have found myself so many times now where my battery is dead or nearly dead and I have no choice but to rush to find a plug, then sit there and wait while it charges. Making the battery non-swappable is the fucking stupidest shit ever.
2. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by avandesande · 2016-09-01 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  With the right desoldering/soldering tools it won't take any extra time to replace the battery... just an inconvenience for the consumer. Either way it will have to be sold as 'refurbished'.
  
  --
  love is just extroverted narcissism
3. Re: Have to lie down in the bed you make by WarJolt · 2016-09-01 07:14 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know about the note 7, but often batteries aren't soldered in for obvious reasons. Heating a lithium ion battery during servicing or manufacturing can be dangerous. The problem that faces samsung and apple is that their enclosures are held together with adhesive, which prevents servicing without some uncommon tools and usually a heat gun. Even the screen is glued to the glass making it difficult to replace the glass without replacing the whole digitizer+screen+glass. This wasn't always the case. Replacing batteries is usually possible by a moderately skilled technician.
4. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by thegarbz · 2016-09-01 07:40 · Score: 1
  
  Yes. You don't design a product around a small probability that a mistake may cause recall that you need to fix more cheaply. I mean this is a company that ships 75million working phones per quarter. Let me see you justify the business case for making the battery user swappable to avoid a recall when you have for a long time shipped 200m+ units per year without issue.
5. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 07:55 · Score: 1
  
  How about you show me a pro consumer reason for NOT making battery user swappable? As I recall Samsung sold many phones before with removable batteries without issues.
6. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  Yup I know the Note 3 and 4 had removable batteries. As a Note 4 owner, this is VERY VERY VERY convenient as I always have a spare in the charger. Going out for the night? A quick swap and I'm worry free.
  Didn't get the Note 5 specifically because of the battery issue. Maybe they'll learn their lesson for the Note 8.
7. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by thegarbz · 2016-09-01 19:22 · Score: 1
  
  We could start with the ever increasing number of consumers calling for ever more waterproof and sealed devices, and the back cover of the Galaxy S5 is the single biggest sources of water ingress including a very fancy and easily defeated by dirt seal.
  There's also questions of design with Samsung's prior phones having been repeatedly reviewed as "feeling cheap" primarily due to the plastic clip on back to allow access to the battery. You could go down the LG route with a bottom entry carriage for the battery, something which adds both weight and thickness to its phone.
  We called for no access to the battery. Maybe not directly, but we the consumers called for it none the less.
8. Re: Have to lie down in the bed you make by Opportunist · 2016-09-01 23:09 · Score: 3
  
  So I buy the thinnest phone in existence because for some odd reason thin is the new usable, then complete it with a fucking huge brick that I need a carry case for because I cannot fit it in any pocket.
  Yeah. Great idea.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
9. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by Trogre · 2016-09-01 23:20 · Score: 1
  
  Funny. I haven't seen a lot of consumers asking for waterproof, sealed devices.
  I have, however, seen phone companies telling me how much I apparently need one.
  
  --
  "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
10. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by houghi · 2016-09-01 23:55 · Score: 1
  
  Condensation. It ruins the warranty on your phone, even when you never held it under water. Think people with glasses that walk into a busy pub. So the technical solution is to not have that happen anymore. The marketing solution when it IS waterproof is to tell you afterwards you need it to go swimming with it.
  Just like they tell you that you need to drink bottled water because marketing and we do instead of solving possible issues with our drinking water.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
11. Re: Have to lie down in the bed you make by Opportunist · 2016-09-02 00:58 · Score: 1
  
  So ... with wifi, gps and data turned on you can now almost go through a whole day?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
12. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2016-09-02 01:03 · Score: 1
  
  Well its not like they haven't had their own share of tax evasion scandles
  
  --
  Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
13. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by AmiMoJo · 2016-09-02 01:56 · Score: 1
  
  They seem to have learned from Apple's mistakes here. Instead of denial and a quiet "case by case" recall they are just fixing it.
  They avoided another -gate scandal, and all will be forgotten in a few weeks.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
14. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by NatasRevol · 2016-09-02 02:09 · Score: 1
  
  Making the battery non-swappable is the fucking stupidest shit ever
  And yet Apple & Samsung are the only manufacturers making money in the phone space. With phones that mostly have non-swappable phones.
  Maybe there's a reason for that, and you just can't see it.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
15. Re: Have to lie down in the bed you make by JackieBrown · 2016-09-02 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  I can on my Moto X
16. Re:Have to lie down in the bed you make by thegarbz · 2016-09-02 02:14 · Score: 1
  
  Funny. I haven't seen a lot of consumers asking for waterproof, sealed devices.
  Maybe you should look around more. Do you think the decision for top of the line vanity phones has waterproof up the top? Or was it sales slowly declining as competitors come in at that space.
  Of course consumers want water proof phones. What they don't want is waterproof phones that look like they were designed from the ground up only to be waterproof, like most of the rugged phones on the market. Shit even here on Slashdot when we were discussing the absence of the 3.5mm socket there were people saying they hope this is a step towards waterproof iPhones (it's not, but the point is that people want the feature).
  If you haven't seen consumers wanting it, then try actually looking.
Good by nwaack · 2016-09-01 06:57 · Score: 1

I'm so glad this happened to Samsung. I wish this sort of stuff would happen to every company that made pre-planned obsolescence/failure hardware.
1. Re:Good by thegarbz · 2016-09-01 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  Hell now. All user replaceable batteries does is ensure that whatever quality control you place on your supply chain, some user will buy something nasty off ebay and blow up their phone anyway.
2. Re:Good by tshawkins · 2016-09-01 12:59 · Score: 1
  
  Its also very very hard to acheive IP68 dust and water proofing if you have to also support cracking the phone open to change the battery.
3. Re:Good by Jumunquo · 2016-09-01 21:49 · Score: 1
  
  Eh, they did it with the Galaxy 5, which I'm still using today. It's just a question of whether they are willing to do it.
4. Re:Good by GuB-42 · 2016-09-02 04:49 · Score: 1
  
  No it isn't. There are many many devices that can be opened and that are more waterproof than any smartphone will ever be.
  The ports (headphone, usb) and speaker are much harder to waterproof properly.
Good by nightfire-unique · 2016-09-01 07:11 · Score: 1

I hope it costs them a fortune. Most of this could have been mitigated with a user-replaceable battery.
Fuck 'em.

--
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Disappoint by wonkey_monkey · 2016-09-01 07:34 · Score: 1

The most important thing is the safety of our customers and we don't want to disappoint our loyal customers
Since when did "disappoint" mean "maim"?

--
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
1. Re:Disappoint by coofercat · 2016-09-02 01:43 · Score: 1
  
  I wish they'd recall my Galaxy Note 8.0 (tablet). It's a nice bit of hardware, and was great when I got it. They let Android 4 onto it, so now I can't use the SD card properly, and then they stopped doing any more software updates for it. In other words, they took away functionality and then cut it loose.
  I'm sure I don't need to go on about their shockingly poor 'value add' software that you can't uninstall. I've had 4 Samsung devices over the last few years. Yeah, I'm disappointed. I still can't quite bring myself to go Sony though, so Samsung might make another sale out of me - not by being the best, but by being slightly less bad. Go Samsung! Job well done there!
Software problem by hackertourist · 2016-09-01 08:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Some developer snuck in a HCF instruction...
Built-in-batteries... that'll cost 'em by phorm · 2016-09-01 09:47 · Score: 2

If the batteries weren't embedded, then they wouldn't need a recall of the whole phone (assuming the issue is the battery itself and not some part of the charging system).
All they would need to do is recall the battery and have users bring them in to swap for a good battery. As a bonus that's a *lot* less of a pain-in-the-a** for users who will now need to migrate all their data to a new device, or be out a phone in the interum.
Not ettLing Go of My Galaxy Note 3 by BrendaEM · 2016-09-01 09:47 · Score: 2

There's not compelling reason to upgrade--especially if they forgot how to make phones.
Let's see, pen sticks in barrel, no Micro-SD, and now: burning phones.
I want a larger phone/tablet with a pen, but the F'n marketing people won't let us have one.

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https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Confusing title by rebelwarlock · 2016-09-01 16:21 · Score: 1

Don't shoehorn the name of the website in at the end of the title. The way it's written, it looks like "Yonhap News Agency" is the name of the phone.
Repost? by antdude · 2016-09-01 22:06 · Score: 1

Huh? Why was this reposted from yesterday?

--
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
1. Re:Repost? by jeremyp · 2016-09-01 23:30 · Score: 1
  
  Because now it's confirmed, so they changed the title.
  
  --
  All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
2. Re:Repost? by antdude · 2016-09-02 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Ah. Still confusing. Ha.
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Phony Baloney by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-01 23:09 · Score: 1

It was funny the first time. Annoying the second. I'm not impressed with the new meme.
(oh, and the awful pun was not intentional...sorry for that)
Replacements shipping by Chris453 · 2016-09-02 00:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

I wonder how they are going to handle the replacement process. Typically you return the defective product when you get the fixed version, but in this case is Fedex/UPS going to be OK shipping a defective device that might burst into flame? The announcement didn't specify if the battery issue was only triggered when recharging the device.
1. Re:Replacements shipping by Overzeetop · 2016-09-02 00:37 · Score: 1
  
  The announcement didn't specify anything at all about what is going wrong, except that the batteries appear to catch fire. I wish they were a bit more forthcoming with the details. Personally, I plan on holding on to mine until there are replacements in the pipeline as I traded in my old phone when I got the N7. I'm sure there are dangers, but at this point I'm willing to take that chance.
  
  --
  Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
2. Re:Replacements shipping by ausekilis · 2016-09-02 00:53 · Score: 2
  
  Be sure to make a video and post to facebook when it does catch fire. Just whip out your phone and.. oh... wait...
.1% is huge by Trailer+Trash · 2016-09-02 00:37 · Score: 1

When you're selling millions of devices, .1% is thousands of problematic batteries. That's a really high percentage of potential catastrophes.

--
Do you have ESP?
1. Re:.1% is huge by paulhar · 2016-09-02 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  No, it's a really low percentage (0.1%).
  Might be a large quantity of devices, but still a small percentage.
2. Re:.1% is huge by ArtemaOne · 2016-09-02 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  No, it is still a small percentage. It is a high number, but small percentage.
Re:Contradictory statements by Overzeetop · 2016-09-02 02:07 · Score: 1

I'm wondering if there was a supply chain breakdown and they didn't properly associate the lot numbers of batteries with the IMEI numbers on the handsets. Or they were just guessing at the 0.1% number.
You have to wonder when the quoted official saying "The most important thing is the safety of our customers and we don't want to disappoint our loyal customers," doesn't want to be identified. I mean, that's not the kind of quote you usually give to a reporter "off the record" because you're worried its going to reflect poorly on you or the company.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Re:The cause has happened before - lessons NOT lea by dgatwood · 2016-09-02 05:28 · Score: 1

I suspect Apple is much more suspicious, and spends serious money in the supplier chain - knowing money beats trust every-time.
Not money so much as random inspections without notice.

--
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
shouldn't that be... by publiclurker · 2016-09-02 06:25 · Score: 1

Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Give a man a Note 7 and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
Problematic Batteries by TooManyNames · 2016-09-02 11:32 · Score: 1

No wonder they're exploding... they're undoubtedly overflowing with toxic masculinity.

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"Is not a sentence" is not a sentence. Well damn.