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At Least 26 Claimed Galaxy Note 7 Fire Reports Were Untrue, Samsung Says (zdnet.com)

Lately, a lot of behind the scene conversations have been suggesting that perhaps the Note 7 battery explosion fiasco has been blown out of the proportion. There's no evidence of any of that, so we won't discuss it any further, but amid all of this, Samsung has confirmed that at least 26 explosion reports that circulated everywhere were hoaxes. From a ZDNet report:Out of the 26 reports, the South Korean tech giant said that in 12 cases they found no fault with the devices. In seven cases, the reported victim could not be reached and in another seven incidents, the consumer cancelled the report or alleged that they threw away the device. In the US, where 1 million devices were recalled, nine such cases were reported. There were three in South Korea, two in France, and one each from the UK, Canada, Singapore, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, Croatia, Romania, Iraq, Lebanon, the UAE, and Czech Republic. In Korea, a worker at a convenience store alleged online that their phone exploded but Samsung said the person was currently unreachable. The user in Canada used a picture they found of the Note 7 catching fire and posed it as their own, the company said, and in Singapore, a user claimed they threw the handset out of their car when it caught fire but could not show proof.Makes you think doesn't it?

106 comments

  1. Unreachable? by sometext · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shockingly, we are unable to contact this person whose primary communications device has exploded.

    1. Re: Unreachable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unreachable-the new euphemism for 'sleeping with the fishes'.

    2. Re:Unreachable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because they decided to wait 2 years to get a new phone?

    3. Re:Unreachable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Uh, how did they make the report that the thing blew up if they had no way of communicating????

      At the very least, they'd want to be available so they can get a refund or even damages.

    4. Re:Unreachable? by Overzeetop · · Score: 2

      And yet, somehow, they were able to file a claim and provide a point of contact following the demise of their phone.

      TBH, the headline should be 26 Cases of Samsung Note Fires Have No Evidence Of Being Caused By Faulty Phones. But that's long and not very click-baity so nobody would read it.

      I expect HTC, Apple, and Huawai to all have phones experience a thermal runaway (referred to as an "explosion" by media) in the next 12 months. It's a numbers game, really, and not news in the sense that there's anything inherently wrong. Pack that much energy into a small, thin package and every so often one will fail.

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    5. Re:Unreachable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Smoke Signals.

    6. Re:Unreachable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the guy who threw his flaming main camera out the window at high speed in downtown Singapore traffic can't provide evidence either. Why are these people conspiring against stand-up citizen Samsung?

    7. Re:Unreachable? by schnell · · Score: 2

      TBH, the headline should be 26 Cases of Samsung Note Fires Have No Evidence Of Being Caused By Faulty Phones. But that's long and not very click-baity so nobody would read it.

      TBH, the headline should be "I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens." Look at the beginning of the article:

      Lately, a lot of behind the scene conversations have been suggesting that perhaps the Note 7 battery explosion fiasco has been blown out of the (sic) proportion. There's no evidence of any of that, so we won't discuss it any further, but

      Then goes on to discuss it. At length.

      Makes you think doesn't it?

      Really? You went there? Manishs should just had the balls to have written a headline saying "Samsung Note 7s Actually Had No Problems, Everybody Look Over There" then gone back to trawling the dark corners of the web to find a post on a forum in Crimea where the user claimed that his iPhone 7 gave him cancer and post that story to Slashdot as a proven fact.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    8. Re:Unreachable? by jittles · · Score: 1

      Uh, how did they make the report that the thing blew up if they had no way of communicating????

      At the very least, they'd want to be available so they can get a refund or even damages.

      They probably notified the doctor at the burn unit of the local emergency room.

    9. Re:Unreachable? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      It's a numbers game, really, and not news in the sense that there's anything inherently wrong. Pack that much energy into a small, thin package and every so often one will fail.

      Nice try, shill.

    10. Re:Unreachable? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Says the pot?

      That is an entirely true statement, but it makes him a shill?

      http://www.digitaltrends.com/m...

      It isn't like Apple has been without any issues in this arena.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  2. Recall off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cancelled the recall then did they?

  3. Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And it also turned out that some of the explosions have to do with idiot users buying cheap as shit chargers with bad or no resistors.
    Of all things to cheap out on, the power equipment.

    But because all sites need their good boy points with Apple so they can get exclusive coverage and free products, it's been a witch hunt against Samsung.
    The ironic difference between Samsung and Apple here?
    Samsung recalls shit when it breaks even with small numbers.
    Apple waits a year to just start considering a repair program for many trashcan pros with faulty and broken AMD chipsets in them, or tell you you are holding a phone wrong.

    Tech journalism needs to die.

    1. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      When I called Apple about a worn power cable, they said it's wear&tear. When I called back weeks later because it had evidently overheated and the plastic burnt off, they said it was customer abuse and refused to replace it. When I said that I'd seen reports on the web of this very same thing, they said they had no other reports of this sort.

      I'm inclined to believe that the Apple procedure with safety matters is to pretend that nothing's wrong - I presume until some PR algorithm determines that it'd be against their interest to continue being dishonest.

    2. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or at least until the RDF falters, but by that point they're already pushing a new connector standard and complaints about old broken equipment is drowned in GOTTA BUY THE NEW iDEVICE

    3. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      after years and a class action lawsuit apple sometimes does the right thing

    4. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "O brave new world, That has such companies in't."

      Or, in the words of Our Ford, "Ending is better than mending!"

    5. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So... 100% (26 out of 26) of the explosions didn't actually happen, but of those that did, some were caused by idiot users misusing the device?

      I wish the fanbois would get their story straight.

    6. Re:Yup by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It's the batteries exploding, not the chargers. Guess what phone chargers do? Provide 5V to the phone, nothing more. They are in no way responsible for the power delivered to the battery, the speed or condition of charge, protection of the cell, or anything at all else battery related.

      What you going to blame next? The variability of renewable wind power for providing an unstable 240V supply to the charger for blowing up the battery in the phone?

    7. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you going to blame next? The variability of renewable wind power for providing an unstable 240V supply to the charger for blowing up the battery in the phone?

      If I connect a battery Rated for 240V charging and whatever amperage, to a verified 240V source... then yes, I will blame the battery/phone.

      It's the batteries exploding, not the chargers. Guess what phone chargers do? Provide 5V to the phone, nothing more.

      Perfectly functional chargers, yes, good chargers, mostly, bad chargers... maybe less, maybe much, much more. If I use a faulty charger that provides, say, 20A at 120V but drops back to 5V 2A after half a second the charger will appear to work the thing it is connected to may do worse.

    8. Re:Yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no there were hundreds of explosion, 26 out of 26 suspected "hoaxes" are "hoaxes".

      Since the article is pro samsung it doesn't count to actual explosions, they just say that they found 26 suspected cases, and when they looked into them it turns out that no one in the suspected cases could prove that the phone exploded and in about half of those cases it could be proven that the phones did in fact NOT explode.

      It's like the fire department saying "Last month 12 out of the 12 false alarms we went to didn't seem to have any fires, in 5 cases we found it to be prank calls, in 5 cases we couldn't find the address and in 2 of the cases the caller claims there was a fire but that they put it out and removed the traces already."

      It says nothing about actual fires.

    9. Re:Yup by cwsumner · · Score: 1

      If the bad "charger" provides 115 Vac to the phone, it will definitely blow the battery. And maybe the phone even if there is no battery in it! 8-P

      And some designs have the charger regulator circuitry in the "charger" "plug", and if it's bad it can over charge the battery (but I don't know about this one)...

    10. Re:Yup by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      And some designs have the charger regulator circuitry in the "charger" "plug",

      Except for any phone that has a USB port.

  4. 12!=26 by Kenja · · Score: 0

    26 reported incidents, 12 of which are confirmed as false. This is not the same thing as saying all 26 are false like the title claims.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:12!=26 by Macthorpe · · Score: 2

      That 12 is not all the devices. They're saying 12 of the 26 were not faulty, and they go on to mention other sections of the 26 that had other issues.

      --
      "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
    2. Re:12!=26 by jxander · · Score: 1

      I read it as:

      (12 examined the allegedly faulty device and found no fault) + (7 unreachable users) + (7 cancelled the report or threw away the device) = 26 fraudulent claims

      --
      This signature is false.
    3. Re:12!=26 by beschra · · Score: 2

      12!=479001600

      ftfy

      --
      It is unwise to ascribe motive
    4. Re:12!=26 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      true

      ftfy

    5. Re:12!=26 by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      They found no fault in 12 of the devices... because the user was holding it wrong.

  5. It's easy to do opinion shaping with the internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It only requires money and the information just needs to be probable.

  6. Totally overblown by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I KNEW this was totally overblown. I have had my Note for weeks and am using it now. It hasn't had ANY issu

    1. Re:Totally overblown by sinij · · Score: 4, Funny

      I KNEW this was totally overblown. I have had my Note for weeks and am using it now. It hasn't had ANY issu

      Dear Sir,

      I am writing you to notify that you are infringing on my copyrighted 'lost carrier' joke. You will be hearing from my la*)NO CARRIER

  7. A few could be reached by penguinoid · · Score: 1

    A few of the supposed victims managed to be reached, and they wanted to make clear that their device did not in fact explode nor did they get paid not to talk about it.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  8. Not a surprise by jbmartin6 · · Score: 2

    Not much of a surprise, we see this sort of thing with any widely reported issue with a specific product. History is rife with examples of mass hysteria, combined with users/owners trying to blame their mistakes on the manufacturer.

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    1. Re:Not a surprise by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm surprised it didn't happen with Tesla's autopilot (4 reported claims, 1 of which looks probably-true but has been questioned, the other three of which have zero substantiation and are of the form "my car crashed itself! It must have been that autopilot-thingy I heard about last week!"). Happened a lot with Toyota's acceleration thing.

    2. Re:Not a surprise by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised it didn't happen with Tesla's autopilot

      Maybe because of the relatively low number of Tesla owners.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    3. Re:Not a surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet there was a problem with the autopilot and Telsa released a fix for it.

      So, yes there are hoax claims but they do not invalidate the original.

    4. Re:Not a surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Happened a lot with Toyota's acceleration thing."

      No it didn't. Toyota blamed the victims for these problems and later got caught.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unintended_acceleration#Sudden_Acceleration_in_Toyota_Vehicles

    5. Re:Not a surprise by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      http://www.autoblog.com/2010/0...

      You do realize that some of the cases were actually fraudulent? Just because some of them were real does not mean that all of them were real, there were a couple of high profile cases of fraud involved with the Toyota thing.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  9. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I KNEW this was totally overblown. I have had my Note for weeks and am using it now. It hasn't had ANY issu

    evaluation of moderator of this post: "Whoosh!"

  10. No proof does not mean did not happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This summary is nonsense. Just because there isn't video evidence and a credible witness, and just because people don't like to answer their phones (that's pretty common nowadays), that does not mean the reports are made up. It means they might be made up. Huge difference.

  11. Some claims are true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    One of my longtime friends posted a photo and story of her Note 7 catching fire several days before the other reports started coming out. So some of them definitely do have a problem.

  12. "Makes you think doesn't it?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Makes you think doesn't it?" Me too!!!

  13. 26 out of how many? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How many reports were there? Showing me that 26 are likely false doesn't mean much if there were over 100 to begin with whereas if there are 30 then it's likely that there's no problem with the phone. Numbers are only useful when taken in context.

    1. Re:26 out of how many? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      The point appears to be that some concentration of users in one small area have complained their shit is blowing up, and have been shown false or insubstantiable; meanwhile across the whole world, fractionally as many actual, legitimate or apparently-legitimate reports have come in. The United States seems to have few enough reports of exploding phones that it's not actually worth checking too hard if people are bullshitting.

    2. Re:26 out of how many? by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      How many reports were there? Showing me that 26 are likely false doesn't mean much if there were over 100 to begin with whereas if there are 30 then it's likely that there's no problem with the phone. Numbers are only useful when taken in context.

      These are independent things. There are phones that start burning. And there are phone owners who are lying (or not even phone owners, you don't need to own a phone to make a false claim). I think the statement isn't "there are much less burning phones then you'd think", but "there is a huge number of liars". Which surely doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.

  14. Just a normal copycat cycle by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

    Not unlike the recent rash of "but, but, it was the AUTOPILOT" claims from Tesla drivers after the first story broke.

  15. Re:Timing with Apple Release? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    I sincerely doubt Apple sees Samsung as a competitor. Basically everyone in Apples target demographic has an iPhone at this point.

  16. Victim blaming by Zeromous · · Score: 1

    Victim blaming is one thing, but this is the kind of asshattery that makes you suspicious of everyone.

    --
    ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
  17. Not untrue for everyone by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Some people complained their Note 7 did not explode. They're called terrorists.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  18. looking in the mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There is no reason to believe consumers are any more ethical than corporate suits. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

  19. Re:politifact says: mostly true by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    PANTS ON FIRE!!

    Indeed. Politifact should change their icon to a Galaxy 7.

  20. No proof doesn't mean it did, either. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So why claim it did happen, if there's not proof? I mean, no proof that Apple users have bought and deliberately destroyed their Samsung device to cause sales of the G7 to crash just before Apple bring out their new phone doesn't mean it didn't happen, right?

    Except of course it does mean that we can't make the accusation.

    In both cases.

  21. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well this joke, or some variant is in every single thread related to the Note 7.
    I was funny when it started, now it is, well, overrated, and rightfully modded so.

  22. I can believe it by phorm · · Score: 1

    While I can believe that some people have indeed suffered from device fires or possibly even explosions, we've already seen plenty of cases in the past where people blame their own misconduct/error on a popular defect, such as
    * Telsa "autopilot"
    * Toyota unintended acceleration
    * etc

    While those both had legitimate cases, there were also a number that were simply people trying to get out of blame (i.e. for causing an accident with their own behaviour) or make a buck (lawsuits).

    1. Re:I can believe it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only did the Toyota unintended acceleration case "have legitimate cases", Toyota intentionally misled investigators and consumers that they knew a problem existed. They later admitted that and paid $1.2 Billion to avoid prosecution.
      http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-pay-12b-hiding-deadly-unintended-acceleration/story?id=22972214

      So the opposite of what you were claiming.

    2. Re:I can believe it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So the opposite of what you were claiming.

      Whoops, I guess you never actually followed up on the story.

      http://www.caranddriver.com/features/its-all-your-fault-the-dot-renders-its-verdict-on-toyotas-unintended-acceleration-scare-feature

  23. Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt device by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    in another seven incidents, the consumer cancelled the report or alleged that they threw away the device.

    Why would they throw away a burnt hunk of metal? They should have kept the smoldering remains!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  24. people always do this by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People are idiots. Some want attention. Some want ad revenue. Some just are bored or something. This kind of thing always happens. It surely happens to Samsung's competitors too. It definitely happened to Toyota during the Prius acceleration scare (and surely Audi too so long ago).

    You shouldn't take all reports as gospel. This shouldn't make you think, you should always be thinking.

    In the end what really matters is whether Note 7s were experiencing battery fires at a higher rate than normal. And the answer still appears to be yes, clearly yes. So Samsung did the right thing with the recall.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  25. Duh by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

    I've been saying from the get go that most of these stories had to be fabricated. There's probably one or two legit cases of overheating, causing a fire. But there's simply not enough energy in one of these batteries to explode a car. It makes no sense. Further, these devices go through rigorous MTBF accelerated lifetime tests. The failure rate is known ahead of time to within a few per million. They know they'll never get it down to zero, so they find a threshold they think everybody will be OK with and shoot for that.

    The problem is now, with Facebook and the 24-hour news cycle, the few actual failures out of the million devices will "go viral," and everybody freaks out. People have no understanding of statistics, so they have no way to deal with it. I think these are the same people who go buy a lottery ticket when the news runs a story about PowerBall being at eleventy million dollars. They don't understand that the odds dictate that they are not going to win the lottery, and their phone is not going to blow up.

    This innumeracy has real ramifications for public policy makers, too. Police shootings are comparable to previous years, yet people think there is a sudden spike. Kidnappings are rarer than ever, yet moms are afraid for their children "in this day and age." People just need to chill out.

    1. Re:Duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you considered that these scared moms are actually strongly authoritarian and want an excuse to push for authoritarian legislation, using the excuse of ThinkOfMyChildren? IOW, they know their children aren't any less safe, but they also know they can distract their opponents by using that argument.

      It's obvious that those in power do it, but for some reason we assume regular joes/janes can't be so cunning.

  26. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The bigger question is why you would throw away a $1000 device that was clearly faulty. Does everyone really have that kind of spare cash to say - meh, it's broken after a week, guess I'll just go buy something else.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  27. Reachability... by CODiNE · · Score: 1

    In seven cases, the reported victim could not be reached

    I'm sorry, it's too easy. I just can't.
    X-D

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
  28. Currently unreachable by tomhath · · Score: 1, Redundant

    In Korea, a worker at a convenience store alleged online that their phone exploded but Samsung said the person was currently unreachable.

    Maybe unreachable because their phone exploded?

  29. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Well it costs $900. If you throw it away, you have a 100% chance of getting $0 back. If you keep it and turn it into your cellphone provider or Samsung directly, you have a 100% chance to get your $900 back, or your destroyed device exchanged for a new one without the defect.

    So idk. Throw away that 'burnt hunk of metal' if you want. I'd prefer not to squander my $900.

  30. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering it's a newly purchased phone, should be a good idea to keep the remain for damage claim and replacement.

  31. Makes me think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    ...OP is a Samsung Sock Puppet

  32. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    there is a burning object that happens to be with you in a car driving at considerable speed. What do you do?

  33. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There needs to be a "-1 Hack" mod to oppose "+1 Funny"

  34. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by dwsobw · · Score: 1

    Throw it out of the window and call the fire department. Which most likely will include an investigation why that something caught fire. At least here they can charge you the costs if it was your fault ...

  35. This is just shit thrown at the wall by HBI · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...to see if it will stick. Kudos to their PR department, they're trying to minimize the problem. It's all bullshit though.

    --
    HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
    1. Re:This is just shit thrown at the wall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Congratulations. Not only have you managed to imply that Apple are the bad guys and Samsung are the good guys in a case where Samsung phones blow up, you've also managed to trivialise a dangerous situation by comparing it to people getting poor signal. You'll be receiving your fanboy badge in the post.

    2. Re:This is just shit thrown at the wall by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Damn it, and here I was hoping it would be a fanboy iBadge...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re:This is just shit thrown at the wall by Ogive17 · · Score: 2

      I don't think that's really fair. They've already admitted there is a problem and are recalling the devices. In the mean time they have provides users a method to "safely" use their phone.

      Is there a bit of PR behind this? Yeah. But at the same time I think this is a statement to those thinking of trying to get a settlement, "we can easily determine if you're lying".

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    4. Re:This is just shit thrown at the wall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it still isn't that dangerous. The products are being recalled, and even at worst the chances are minimal. Let's assume 100 units exploded. It's nowhere near that number, but let's go with it. 100 / 1,000,000 = 0.001% chance.

      Also, APL's been down this road before, with their bigger-batteried laptops back in 2008. It cause severe warping and I'll bet a good number of explosions. Take a look for yourself. It took a lawsuit and years to admit they had a problem -- they've never admitted one without a lawsuit and you know how long lawsuits can take to even get started.

      I, for one, will paint this as a Good Responsible Corporate Citizen for Samsung and if they continue to meet my needs, I will continue to buy them.

    5. Re:This is just shit thrown at the wall by HBI · · Score: 0

      They're trying to discredit the suggestion that the Note 7 bursts into flames by providing counterexamples based on very thin logic "we couldn't get in touch with the people". I did insurance claims for several years. People who were legitimately owed money were hard to get a hold of in many cases. So that is a crap assumption.

      My point: of course this is PR because they know the same things that I do.

      --
      HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
  36. They were unreachable? No shit. Their phone explod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "In Korea, a worker at a convenience store alleged online that their phone exploded but Samsung said the person was currently unreachable"

  37. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This sounds like something from a text adventure game.

    Hmm.

    >undo. undo. undo, undo, unplug phone

    *Error, object "phone" not identified

    >unplug note 7

    *Error, "7" does not make sense in this context

    > unplug Samsung Galaxy Note 7

    *I don't understand what you are trying to do with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7

    > remove Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from car

    *Detaching the charging cable first
    *Rolling down window first
    *You fling the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from your vehicle, injuring a pedestrian. He shouts for help and other bystanders begin talking on their phones

    > continue driving

  38. Let's make by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Made in America mean something again. We can start by making up stories about foreign products.

  39. Re:Blown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Lately, a lot of behind the scene conversations have been suggesting that perhaps the Note 7 battery explosion fiasco has been blown out of the proportion."
    "Makes you think doesn't it?"

    This is not a Submitter Problem. "Manishs", whomever or whatever they are, is simply inept. Hey Manish, hie yourself back to whatever Indian backwater that spawned you, and come back when you have learned the rudiments of the English Language. Aping casual speech while mopping up the Slashdot offices in no way qualifies you to be an Editor.

    On the other hand, Manish may possibly still _be_ in India, hoping against hope for a H-1B.
    Even Slashdot can be outsourced...

  40. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you keep it and turn it into your cellphone provider or Samsung directly, you have a 100% chance to get your $900 back, or your destroyed device exchanged for a new one without the defect.

    Seems a wee bit optimistic

  41. Re:Blown by TangoMargarine · · Score: 2

    What's supposed to be wrong with it? Other than the extra "the" at the end, it looks perfectly correct to me.

    Well okay, I'd hyphenate "behind-the-scenes" as well, but I don't see anything deserving of mocking their language skills.

    --
    Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
  42. Re:Timing with Apple Release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How hard would it be for a corporation to poison the pubic well for a product.

    Talk about your Freudian slips...

  43. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Scarred+Intellect · · Score: 1

    I think you're right on point, and the implication is that they threw it away to dispose of evidence of faking the explosion.

  44. Dishonest Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    looking to cash out. Classy as always. And just like we thought, this whole thing was inflated dramatically, and is actually nowhere as bad as it's been made out.

  45. Reminds me of another hoax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Prius acceleration hoax turned out to be exactly that. Some complaints were found to be operator error. At least one was a deliberate scam attempt. The rest were based on not understanding the two braking systems.

    Nevertheless, Toyota paid up to make it go away rather than fight each one separately.

    1. Re:Reminds me of another hoax by macs4all · · Score: 1

      The Prius acceleration hoax turned out to be exactly that. Some complaints were found to be operator error. At least one was a deliberate scam attempt. The rest were based on not understanding the two braking systems.

      Nevertheless, Toyota paid up to make it go away rather than fight each one separately.

      Well, I know that Woz had a Prius with the problem; and he was able to repeatedly get it to do the uncontrolled acceleration thing by a (IIRC) specific, easily-repeatable sequence of gear-shifts and brake applications.

      On my computer at home I've got the email reply he sent to me when I asked him about it (after his experience was reported in Slashdot).

      So, stick that "hoax" bullshit up your ass. Woz was reportedly able to make it exhibit the uncontrolled-acceleration bug anytime he wanted.Toyota wasn't interested when he contacted them about how to "make it happen", BTW. Instead, they used the fact that the accelerator/brake position data wasn't being logged correctly by the car to convince the NHTSA that it was "Driver Error". Despicable.

  46. Samsung turned me into a newt! by Yaztromo · · Score: 2

    I got better...

  47. So were these Youtube people? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The whole problem here is a lack of good judgement in these cases. A rush to judgement forces a company to react with broad actions when maybe this is only a isolated problem. You could say the news media stokes a lot of stuff this way.

  48. Re:politifact says: mostly true by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's easy to twist perception when you provide a statistic without the context necessary to understand it.

    For instance, saying that 26 reports are hoaxes makes it sounds like the issue is being massively overblown in the media. But we know from other reporting that Samsung has received at least 92 reports in the US alone . And according to the summary, only 9 of those 26 "hoax" reports originated in the US, so if we just take the numbers at face value, it would suggest that at least 90% of the reports are NOT hoaxes.

    To say the least, putting it in that context paints a very different picture.

    And that's before you even start to look at what they've deemed to be a "hoax". If you do so, you'll realize pretty quickly that what they've actually done is identify 26 cases that may be hoaxes. A more accurate way labeling of their numbers would suggest that 12 of the 26 worldwide reports were verifiably not the phone's fault, but that the remaining 14 were unverifiable one way or the other. Beyond that and you're starting to ascribe intent, rather than sticking to the facts.

    If we want to get a better sense of what's actually going on, it makes sense to exclusively limit ourselves to verifiable reports. If we start by assuming that 12 of 26 is a representative approximation for how many reports are verifiable out of the ones Samsung labeled as "hoaxes", then it would suggest that roughly 4 of the 9 "hoax" reports from the US are verifiable and 5 are unverifiable. That leaves us with 87 reports (i.e. 92 - 5) that should be verifiable one way or the other, of which 83 (i.e. 87 - 4) would be verifiably accurate. Given that 1M units were sold in the US, we can say that the verifiable failure rate to date is 83 out of every 1M, with that number likely rising over time as more verifiable reports come in.

    Unfortunately for Samsung, that number is WELL beyond the 24 out of every 1M estimation that they publicly stated a few weeks back, so it should come as no surprise that they'd be trying to put a positive spin on things.

    And, of course, an easy way to put a positive spin on things is to throw out some big numbers in a vacuum and hope people don't ask too many questions. Which is what they seem to be doing here.

  49. No, no, no by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    Makes you think doesn't it?

    No, I'm an American, and in America no one can make you think. F-F-F-F-REEDOM!!

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  50. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not just this joke in every thread. It's this joke, posted by the same guy every time. It's like a senile grandpa telling "why did the chicken cross the road" every few minutes because he forgot that he just told it, and also has become so feebleminded that he thinks it's absolutely hilarious every single time.

  51. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    The classics never get old. Suck it sonny!

  52. Re:politifact says: mostly true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Prius accelerated by itself as his Galaxy Note 7 exploded. Luckily the the Takata airbag would save his life.

  53. Really Editors?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FTFS: "suggesting that perhaps the Note 7 battery explosion fiasco has been blown out of the proportion."

    Puns are the lowest form of humour. But I can't resist.

    Tell me more editors. Give me the blow-by-blow details of this story; the whole shebang. I'm sure it will be a blast!

  54. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If something of that value exploded, I would be keeping it as proof of what happened, even if it was a pile of ashes.

  55. Re:Blown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Makes you think doesn't it?"
    This is not proper English; it's casual speech in written form, and it is unnecessary without further context. Just what is it that is supposed to make us think?
    I'm not normally a Grammar Nazi when it comes to the posters here, but the Editors are being _paid_ to edit, and "Manishs" is particularly bad at this job. (BTW, you are quite correct on the hyphenation.)
    Paid Editors should be held to a higher standard. Yes, my jab at Indians may seem boorish, but it _did_ make you think about my context. Perhaps, some day, a proper and decent conversation can be held on the subject of Slashdot adopting a "Manual Of Style", a list of rules that most reputable Journalists and Editors abide by.
    Or maybe Slashdot should just buy this, and pass it around:
    https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Manual-Style-16th/dp/0226104206

    Thank you for your comments.

  56. Re:Blown by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

    I'd agree that the comment comes off as redundant and unscholarly, but there's nothing wrong with it from a grammar standpoint. "It" is the understood subject of the first clause...although there should really be a comma before "doesn't."

    Just what is it that is supposed to make us think?

    It should be blindingly obvious to anyone that it refers to the preceding summary. Reading between the lines, claims of falsified reports are supposed to make us think about how much mass recalls are due to hysteria vs. actual issues.

    There are other problems with the summary, though. I did a double-take on

    Lately, a lot of behind the scene conversations have been suggesting that perhaps the Note 7 battery explosion fiasco has been blown out of the proportion. There's no evidence of any of that, so we won't discuss it any further,

    when I hit

    but amid all of this, Samsung has confirmed that at least 26 explosion reports that circulated everywhere were hoaxes.

    So there's no evidence of it being blown out of proportion...except for this evidence that we're showing you right now. And we "aren't discussing it" here, somehow?!

    Normally I would never say this, but in this case the summary would be better off as just an ungarnished blockquote. So I suppose you're right.

    And finally, there's the part where "we couldn't easily and immediately obtain proof it happened" somehow translates to "they were lying and it didn't happen." Wow.

    --
    Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
  57. Re:Totally overblown / whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To suck it on the other side!

    Ahh, hah hah ha he he hooo...

  58. Re:Even more unthinkable - throwing away burnt dev by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

    Why would they throw away a burnt hunk of metal? They should have kept the smoldering remains!

    As evidence of purchase and the presence of a major fault, yes. Precisely.

    When you have a car crash, do you not take photos? Record the names and addresses of witnesses, and the registration numbers of vehicles involved, even if only trivially? The simple failure to do such things is in itself something that an insurance investigator would take as a priori evidence of fraud and use it as justification for a deep investigation of the claim.

    --
    Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"