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Samsung Halts Galaxy Note 7 Production Temporarily (wsj.com)

Samsung is halting production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after the replacement units -- the second batch of Note 7 produced -- by Samsung also seemed to be riddled with a similar issue, with nearly half a dozen of explosion and burning issues in the past week alone. Yonhap News Agency, and the WSJ are both reporting that the halt was done in cooperation with safety regulators from South Korea, China and the United States. From a WSJ report: Samsung's move comes after a spate of fresh reports of problems with replacement phones that have been distributed to consumers around the world. While Samsung hasn't confirmed the reports, it said in a statement Friday in response to one report that it would "move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible."

121 comments

  1. Samsumg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is more dangerous than Elon Musk.

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

      I'm surprised you were able to able to spell a word like dangerous with more than 4 letters without misspelling it

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

      The first AC even managed to punctuate the sentence correctly.

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

      Oh *snap*..!!!

    4. Re:Samsumg by wkwilley2 · · Score: 1

      Didn't stop them from spelling "Samsung" wrong.

      --
      Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
  2. Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sent from my iPhone 7.

    1. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exploding batteries on the Galaxy Note 7 are a fictional problem made up by Apple fanbois. This problem doesn't exist at all, no matter how much you wish it did.

    2. Re: Ha ha by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

      Apple fanboi is not trendy anymore. Apple hateboi is the new trend.

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    3. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The next version released will be the Galaxy Note Hate.

    4. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they should make the phones only explode when an iPhone is near. That way, to problems could be solved at once.

    5. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You too wrongly spelled two as to.

    6. Re: Ha ha by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      The batteries aren't exploding it's the Easter Egg Fireworks that are too easy to find

      --

      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: Ha ha by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Uh huh. And we didn't land on the moon either. Conspiracies, man! When will people wake up and realize their "facts" are lies, amirite?

    8. Re: Ha ha by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Exploding batteries on the Galaxy Note 7 are a fictional problem made up by Apple fanbois. This problem doesn't exist at all, no matter how much you wish it did.

      Of course. Apple fanbois caused TWO Samsung recalls AND a PRODUCTION HALT.

      Right.

    9. Re: Ha ha by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Uh huh. And we didn't land on the moon either. Conspiracies, man! When will people wake up and realize their "facts" are lies, amirite?

      There's a Seeker born every minute!

    10. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too many smartphone users all around. I hate to be collateral damage even if the cause is good.

    11. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really mate?
      At least don't feed such obvious ones.

    12. Re: Ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always said they were bastards!

  3. Too much thin phones and thin batteries by samjam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the quest for ever thinner phones and ever thinner batteries is to blame.
    I want thicker phones with longer life.

    I also think a battery-only recall would have been cheaper, so there is a lot to be said for removable batteries too.
    I want user-replaceable batteries

    I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I do know what I want.

    1. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

      This is more a problem of battery management. These Li-ion batteries need a specific and smart power input. Sounds like the embedded driver, probably not firmware updatable, is defective.

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    2. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too many *

    3. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sounds much more like an overheating CPU too close to a way to cheap poorly insulated battery (internal batteries are much cheaper than user replace able batteries). The CPU alters the conditions of the battery, so the battery generates more heat, heating the CPU which heats the battery (higher temperatures more electrical resistance, leading to higher temperatures). So the design is inherently bad and the phone has to be scrapped IMHO they kind of deserve it for removing user replacebale batteries from Notes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?..., I am a bad man ;D.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I think the quest for ever thinner phones and ever thinner batteries is to blame.
      I want thicker phones with longer life.

      What I think you're trying to say is that you want a bigger fire!
      Well IBM can help you with that. A device that doesn't comfortably fit in any pocket and actually meets the common definition not just the media definition of"exploded".

      The solution here is not more lithium.

    5. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      If only there was a way for a massive tech company with highly skilled engineers to find out if a phone is overheating its batteries.

      Like holding it in your hand, for example.

      And why would they burst into flames when not in use and not charging? Only rtb61 knows the answer...maybe Samsung could hire him!

      --
      No sig today...
    6. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think the quest for ever thinner phones and ever thinner batteries is to blame.
      I want thicker phones with longer life.

      I also think a battery-only recall would have been cheaper, so there is a lot to be said for removable batteries too.
      I want user-replaceable batteries

      I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I do know what I want.

      The problem is they cannot figure out whether it's a battery issue or the phone is making the batteries explode. Now with the replacement Note 7's exploding it seems more like the latter case because I am sure in the replacement phones the least they would have done is replace the batteries with a different kind.

    7. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Zuriel · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Phones have temperature sensors and will stop charging if the battery temperature gets too high, or throttle the CPU or even power off entirely if it gets too hot. Unless you leave it on the dash of your car in summer and the device can't control its temperature, heat can't really cause a catastrophic failure like this. It's more likely to be the battery developing an internal short circuit due to a manufacturing fault in my opinion. There's no way to handle that besides better quality control.

    8. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      3500 mAh is a problem. Just stick to 3200 and optimize the apps (we have been doing it for 60 years, and until they will discover something like Moore law for batteries, I guess will have to stick to software optimization for now)

      My previous phone was Droid Maxx, first phone with 3500 mAh battery and it was hitting like crazy. Eventually it started to bulge (luckily after retirement), and I disassembled it and disposed of it before it exploded.

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    9. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Big+Smirk · · Score: 1

      Assuming of course the sensors are in the right place.
      Bottom line, I still have my old Samsung Note 7 (pre-recall) because 1) I don't believe they solved the problem and 2) The old phone has a software limit on charging speed.

      I suspect the real solution will be the Note 8

      --
      TODO: create/find/steal funny sig.
    10. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We just need a thinner electron to solve the problem. This will be available real soon, now.

    11. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. 3200 mAh should be enoguh for everybody.

    12. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by houghi · · Score: 1

      I think the quest for ever thinner phones and ever thinner batteries is to blame.

      Who are these people asking for thinner phones? I have not seen anybody asking for them. Since the beginnng we ask for longer battery life. Even in the period where you could do 2-3 weeks with a battery did we wanted a longer battery life.
      So it is the companies who tell us that thin is better and we buy it.

      Not everything is to blame on the companies, because we buy it and also âoeIf I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.â --H.Ford

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    13. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by cmseagle · · Score: 1

      Willing to trade thickness for battery life? You can get a case on Amazon that'll double or triple you phone's battery capacity for $20-30. Problem solved.

    14. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      When you rapid charge batteries it can do funny things to the chemistry, and plus you are expecting rapid temperature rise and high current flow that would be the normal danger signs when there is a battery fault like a short. I think it's likely that their batteries are the same quality as ever, it's just that they can't detect when they are about to explode any more because the conditions are too similar to a normal rapid charging session.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    15. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Zuriel · · Score: 1

      You only see high current flow with an external short. I'm talking about a connection between the electrodes inside the battery, where the phone's circuitry can't do anything about it. There's no warning before the short forms, and as soon as it does form it's all over. The phone probably powers itself off. It just doesn't make a difference.

    16. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by known_coward_69 · · Score: 1

      in the past it was all the cheap batteries people bought on the internet that used to result in fires and explosions

    17. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2

      Here is what a Galaxy Note7 looks like inside. The CPU is behind the metal cover left of the battery. This is basically how most modern phones look like inside (except Sony, they still have the CPU above the battery).

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    18. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by known_coward_69 · · Score: 1

      go back 20 years and all the big phone hits are thin phones with crappy batteries. StarTac, Motorola Razr.

    19. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      If they did that it is not surprising why it failed. It really is much more complex than that. Variability in battery manufacture, variability in CPU heat output, environmental conditions not just current but the worst condition recently experienced (phone on car dash for too long, affecting future performance of the battery), improperly coded applications driving the CPU to maximum use uncontrollably. So a complex conjunction of all of those events triggering catastrophic failure over time (dependent upon how each phone fits within that variable scale) and of course engineered design life being a little to tightly engineered, which over confident engineers who have no notion of manufacturing variability and it's affects in finite engineering calculations. That failure seems the most likely guess due to the variability in battery combustion ie they were not all charging, they were not all running at peak, not one particular application can be blamed and replacement batteries are failing (this tends to indicate a complex series of interacting events, to achieve final failure, that does not always occur).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    20. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What was it hitting?

    21. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed, samdung copied it wrong!

    22. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Dan+East · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The last batch of "fixed" phones that have caught on fire have not even been in use. The last few caught fire during the night when hooked up to a charger. They seem to be catching fire around 4 - 5 AM, which assuming the phone was plugged in at midnight of before, should be after the battery is fully charged. So at first blush it would seem the batteries are being overcharged. However, the phone that caught on fire on the airplane was apparently not in use or plugged in. In fact he said he had turned it off and then the fire began.

      My hunch is the batteries are being damaged during the charging process, and once that occurs it's just a ticking time bomb before the layers in the battery come into contact and cause a big exothermic chemical reaction. Often it happens right away, but sometimes not until some other physical factor triggers it.

      The original batteries that Samsung thought were the problem probably weren't manufactured quite as well, and thus they simply manifested the overcharging problem more easily. The other manufacturer's batteries in the "fixed" phones have slightly better manufacturing, and thus they can simply stand up to the overcharging abuse a bit better, and since it didn't manifest in Samsung's testing, they assumed it was purely a problem with the other batteries.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    23. Re: Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Note 8 may also be the precipitate.

    24. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by macs4all · · Score: 1

      When you rapid charge batteries it can do funny things to the chemistry, and plus you are expecting rapid temperature rise and high current flow that would be the normal danger signs when there is a battery fault like a short. I think it's likely that their batteries are the same quality as ever, it's just that they can't detect when they are about to explode any more because the conditions are too similar to a normal rapid charging session.

      There you go!

      As I have said repeatedly, their marketing droids said "What?!? We can't have a FOUR HOUR charge time when the iPhone charges in TWO HOURS! I don't care if the battery is twice the size. Make it happen!!!"

      And so they went back to the battery data, and redesigned the charging profiles so that they used the "Maximum Limit" on temperature as the "Spec" instead of the "Recommended Limit".

      And now, Witness the result.

    25. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by macs4all · · Score: 1

      and since it didn't manifest in Samsung's testing, they hoped it was purely a problem with the other batteries.

      FTFY

    26. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by macs4all · · Score: 1

      3500 mAh is a problem.

      It is when you try to charge it in the same time that Apple charges the iPhone's 2000 mAh battery. My iPhone 6 Plus charges from 0 to 100% in 2 hours (maybe even less), and barely gets warm to the touch (I'd say about 40-42 deg. C outside case temp as a guess, based on skin temp).

      And keep in mind that, according to Ars Technica's testing, the iPhone 7 with nearly 1/2 the battery size, gets about 96% of the battery-life under similar conditions as the GN7, (and the 7 plus gets better life than the GN7).

      So that means that the GN7 uses almost twice the battery power at a given task than the iPhone 7, which no amount of software optimization will make up.

      Sorry, the S7 line is a power-hungry pig of a design, and as Samsung has now discovered, this does not mean you can just "throw battery" at it; because "charge times matter".

    27. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      StarTac batteries were great. External and trivially swappable.

    28. Re:Too much thin phones and thin batteries by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Dendrites are usually caused by overcharging, which as you previously mentioned, would indicate either a charge circuit design flaw (e.g. too high a charge voltage) or a hardware/firmware bug that causes the charger to stay in rapid charge mode for too long. But the GP is also correct in saying that rapid charging makes it more challenging to choose the proper temperature cutoffs to prevent thermal runaway.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  4. Be optimistic. Also, yo dawg. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Third time luck!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. Wasted headline opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Samsung Galaxy Note 7 production bombs"

    "Samsung Galaxy Note 7 business is booming"

    "Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a product truly built to blast"

    1. Re:Wasted headline opportunity by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      Samsung overcharged for quality assurance services.

    2. Re:Wasted headline opportunity by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      But but the users are the testers. Just ask Microsoft?

      QA is a cost center that adds no ROI or any business value and takes away from shipping our product to the customers for Christmas.

    3. Re: Wasted headline opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7

      Guaranteed to give you more bang for your buck.

    4. Re: Wasted headline opportunity by Feral+Nerd · · Score: 1

      SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7

      Guaranteed to give you more bang for your buck.

      .... a supernova in your pocket.

    5. Re:Wasted headline opportunity by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      "Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a product truly built to blast"

      I like that one.

      --
      No sig today...
  6. Looking for to buy by Eddie+S.+Davis · · Score: 0

    I want to buy samsung galaxy note 7..

    1. Re: Looking for to buy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mohammed Abu Jamal Al-Jihad, is that you?

    2. Re: Looking for to buy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's me, Kim Jong Un.

  7. more than just thinner by kingcong · · Score: 0

    I think its more than just thinner devices. Keep on adding parts and whatnot is the culprit. Apple right can do it right, but Samsung is running into problems trying to do what Apple is doing.

    1. Re:more than just thinner by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think its more than just thinner devices. Keep on adding parts and whatnot is the culprit. Apple right can do it right, but Samsung is running into problems trying to do what Apple is doing.

      Oh you mean like this?

    2. Re:more than just thinner by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      I think its more than just thinner devices. Keep on adding parts and whatnot is the culprit. Apple right can do it right, but Samsung is running into problems trying to do what Apple is doing.

      Weird.

      It's almost as if somebody's managed to connect to the Internet but they never heard of a single site where you can type "iPhone fire" and see pages of results.

      (shrug)

      --
      No sig today...
    3. Re:more than just thinner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pictures of damaged iPhones like people putting a nail through it auto-combusting? Sure.

      Pictures of iPhones that were charging using defective non-apple chargers that combusted? Yup.

      Pictures of undamaged iPhones that catch fire all by themselves and injure people like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7s have been doing even after a recall? Nope.

      Comments by people trying to deflect Samsung's responsibility for bringing to market an unsafe product by trying to mislead people that iPhones (any model) tend to spontaneously combust too? Oh yeah we can find that...

      Posted AC to preserve Mods

    4. Re: more than just thinner by Chris453 · · Score: 1

      You mean like this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

    5. Re:more than just thinner by houghi · · Score: 4, Informative

      From your article:
      It appears likely that the phone sustained some damage while it was being transported. The kind of battery used in the iPhone and other handsets are almost always safe, but can be incredibly dangerous â" if they are punctured, they can easily explode or set fire, taking the rest of the phone with it.
      The phone did appear to be dented and damaged beyond the kind of issues that would be caused by heat.
      But that also suggests that the new problems hitting the iPhone are not on the level of the exploding Note 7, which necessitated a global recall and has been a disaster for the company. No further problems with the iPhone 7 have yet been reported and it appears that the problem is likely to be isolated.

      (Emphasis is mine)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    6. Re:more than just thinner by cmseagle · · Score: 1
      An isolated incident of catastrophic battery failure is very different from what appears to be a fundamental design flaw. Hell, it's even called out in the byline of the article you posted.

      It’s a grim echo of the Note 7’s spontaneous combustion, but it’s probably not a problem on anything like the scale of Samsung’s

  8. Re:Impossible by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    Apple is a company who only builds overpriced shit

    Overpriced yes, shit no.

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  9. I could never touch my tongue to my penis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    even to this day I mean why not?

    1. Re:I could never touch my tongue to my penis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you're supposed to have someone do it for you.

  10. asian disposal is not disposal. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    whenever at&t or whoever sends electronics to be disposed of.. they get refurbed and put on sale again, often unofficially.

    so. did these phones go back to samsung or not?

  11. Re:Impossible by frnic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It can't be over priced if the market is bearing that price. The value of any product is exactly what the public is willing to pay for it.

  12. Re: Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's a dangerous way to think.

    It is that kind of thinking that leads to 500% increases in the cost of life saving drugs just for the heck of it. As in, it was not caused by changing market or environmental conditions. It was only possible because they have a monopoly on the drugs.

    We don't live in a perfect free market world. Quite the opposite: large multinationals continue to consolidate their position via abuse of legal mechanisms (patents, copyright) and through mergers.

    The goal, of course, is to obtain absolute monopoly, which is the antithesis of a free market.

    So no, the value of something isn't what the market will bear, otherwise you'd be paying millions for clean air.

  13. Re: Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The thing is the iPhone is not something essential and there are thousands of alternatives out there.

  14. Re: Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pay millions for clean air? Soon enough.

  15. Re:Impossible by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    It can't be over priced if the market is bearing that price. The value of any product is exactly what the public is willing to pay for it.

    I think "overpriced" is more relative to the one who says it's overpriced. MacDonald's is rather cheap, but I think it's overpriced because the quality is low and the heath risk is high.

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  16. I blame the future!!! by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    Cure you and your futuristic technology. Why can't we just stick to the technology of 10 years ago.
    I mean just ask Sony batteries never exploded then!

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  17. Re:my galaxy 7 works fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your phone might work fine but it looks like your brain doesn't.

  18. This never happened with my land-line phone! by King_TJ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This quest for ever thinner phones with their thin batteries is only to blame if you dislike the downsides of pushing technology forward.

    Any time you demand a considerable amount of energy storage in a small package, it has a certain amount of danger of catching fire or exploding.

    We've randomly seen various models of laptops catch fire or explode too, and many of those weren't all that thin, nor would you describe their batteries as "thin" -- especially compared to any smartphone ever manufactured.

    I can't say I know exactly where Samsung is failing this particular time, since competitors have similar sized devices with similar sized batteries that are clearly working more reliably? But it sounds like they wrote things off as a simple battery production defect when it might turn out to be a more complicated problem to fix. (As someone else said - maybe they have the battery sitting too close to the CPU or other chips that help warm it up past a safe operational parameter?)

    1. Re:This never happened with my land-line phone! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Everyone knows that the thinner it gets the more volatile it is, which is why paper explodes so spectacularly. Just hope they never make a paper thin phone, especially one made out of wood products. Fortunately I hear wood isn't a very good conductor.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:This never happened with my land-line phone! by PeelBoy · · Score: 1

      Pushing technology forward doesn't have to mean thinner phones.

      You can push technology forward by creating longer lasting phones, and that would be more beneficial to most of us than shaving off another 1mm from the thickness.

      We've reached the point where phones are thin enough for now. Concentrate on improving other things, and including the features we want instead of getting rid of them for the sake of thinness. We're literally regressing in features in order to free up space and make phones thinner.

      I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for thinner phones, or fitting technology into smaller packages. I'm just saying that it doesn't need to be the #1 priority that trumps all other things.

    3. Re:This never happened with my land-line phone! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. Plenty of phone makers are making thinner, faster, more advanced phones without having them catch on fire.

      What's bitten Samsung is likely rushed development - I've seen this story posted at various places already but this link is a good overview

      https://consumerist.com/2016/09/19/report-samsung-rushed-galaxy-note-7-to-beat-predictable-iphone-7-to-market/

      Basically they believed that the 7/7plus was going to be a 'boring' release and they believed if they rushed a new note 7 to market, stacked with new features, they would capture a lot of sales.

      I've also heard that the issue may not be strictly battery related, but structural. Some have reported that the Note 7's chassis has extremely tight tolerances and in some circumstances may squeeze the LiPo cell tightly in places (Which is a huge no no when it comes to LiPo cells) - Which would explain why problems are continuing to occur even when the battery supplier has been swapped.

      Rushing seems to be the common theme here. They went from recall to replacement in, like, a week? How could that be enough time to properly evaluate the problem? What if they just assumed the batteries were the issue without really testing?

    4. Re:This never happened with my land-line phone! by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      We've randomly seen various models of laptops catch fire or explode too, and many of those weren't all that thin, nor would you describe their batteries as "thin" -- especially compared to any smartphone ever manufactured.

      Hell, look at the so-called hoverboards. Those things aren't thin, or small. And yet they regularly burst into flame

      Samsung had a problem with Samsung-made batteries, so they replaced it with their other supplier. But then they revealed there's a further problem with their battery management circuits. A replaceable battery won't fix this as it's fundamentally part of the phone itself.

  19. Re:Impossible by Feral+Nerd · · Score: 1

    Apple is a company who only builds overpriced shit. I bet I could find an Android smartphone with the iPhone 7 specs for $100. Also Steve Jobs is dead, therefore Apple is DOOMED.

    I'll take that bet now get to work...

  20. Why even bother? by wkwilley2 · · Score: 2

    Realistically as other have said....how much money could Samsung have saved if they had made the battery removable and just sent everyone a replacement battery?

    If that's not the issue, then obviously that's not going to solve the problem, but the quest for super thin phones is the cause of these issues. Why make a phone this thin if you're just going to put it in an otterbox?

    --
    Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
    1. Re:Why even bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Realistically as other have said....how much money could Samsung have saved if they had made the battery removable and just sent everyone a replacement battery?

      If that's not the issue, then obviously that's not going to solve the problem, but the quest for super thin phones is the cause of these issues. Why make a phone this thin if you're just going to put it in an otterbox?

      The second recall that uses a different battery tends to prove that the battery is not at issue but that the problem is a design fault elsewhere. So, Samsung would not have changed anything using removable batteries (other than having many more phones with battery connection problems and backs that fall off after a year or so). Oh but the tiny minority of people that want to carry around another battery with no way to charge it rather than an external battery pack that you can charge by itself would be happy and would have bought a few hundred phones.

    2. Re:Why even bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because you can use a thinner otterbox

    3. Re:Why even bother? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Realistically as other have said....how much money could Samsung have saved if they had made the battery removable and just sent everyone a replacement battery?

      Probably very little. Consider
      a) they have a massive logistics network around the world which makes the cost of shipping products tiny.
      b) they have a massive amount of cheap labour to effect a repair.
      c) as a producer of the parts including the display itself they have very low part replacement costs.
      d) having an all in one glued shut case is significantly cheaper to design and may even be cheaper to manufacture.
      e) the problems which have occurred need to be examined by comparing to the total number of devices shipped. 2million Note7 vs over 250million phones total per year all of which didn't have a problem. When you look at the effect on the bottom line, yes it may have been cheaper but even if it was there was definitely no evidence based on past performance that this was a risk, and there's still no evidence that it has had a significant impact.

  21. Value of something IS what the market will bear by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's a dangerous way to think.

    Products ARE worth what people are willing to pay for them. That is a cold stone fact. It's not a "dangerous way to think" because it's simply the truth. You fail to acknowledge that truth at your peril. It's like saying gravity is a dangerous way to think. That argument makes no sense because it implies that a law of nature is somehow a point of view. It isn't. Products are worth what the market will bear is in economics as close to a fundamental law of nature as you will find. It's right up there with supply and demand effects on price.

    It is that kind of thinking that leads to 500% increases in the cost of life saving drugs just for the heck of it

    Which is why most sane countries regulate the price of drugs to avoid that exact circumstance because health care is needed by everyone. And even in the crazy US we regulate a lot of markets (electricity, telephone, water, etc) where there is a risk of a utility abusing its monopoly on a product. The value of a product is what people are willing to pay for it. When the consequences of not paying for it are possible death, the value of that product can be very high if there is no alternative source for it.

    So no, the value of something isn't what the market will bear, otherwise you'd be paying millions for clean air.

    You are conflating some very different things. First off we ARE paying millions (billions really) for clean air as a society. The price of it is rolled into the cost of the products you buy. Those environmental regulations aren't free. (and that's not a bad thing either) Second, we are perfectly capable of regulating monopolies to keep them from getting out of hand. We do this all the time. Third, the value of something in economic terms absolutely IS what people are willing to pay for it. Some things are public goods and we have to be careful about ensuring they remain so but the value of fresh water or breathable air is tremendously high - we've just organized our legal system to ensure they are available to all.

    1. Re:Value of something IS what the market will bear by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Products ARE worth what people are willing to pay for them.

      No, that is not true under our current system in which you get to hand-wave away externalities. If people had to actually pay the entire cost of a gadget, then it would be true. If the actual environmental cost of production were baked into every device, whether by taxing and spending those revenues on cleanup or by making it more expensive to create the device by controlling emissions and energy consumption up front, then people would be able to make intelligent choices about what something is worth.

      Everyone on this planet is subsidizing everything made for everyone else, because we're spending our natural capital in the process.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Value of something IS what the market will bear by Rufty · · Score: 1

      Products ARE worth what people are willing to pay for them. That is a cold stone fact..

      The price is determined by what the buyer is prepared to pay, and what the seller is willing to accept. It is rare, but an ethical seller can decide a price is too *high* and refuse to sell except at a lower price.

      --
      Red to red, black to black. Switch it on, but stand well back.
    3. Re:Value of something IS what the market will bear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Products ARE worth what people are willing to pay for them. That is a cold stone fact..

      The price is determined by what the buyer is prepared to pay, and what the seller is willing to accept. It is rare, but an ethical seller can decide a price is too *high* and refuse to sell except at a lower price.

      Often when these sellers emerge, someone fixes the 'problem' by simply buying up the inventory before the buyers willing to pay more, then selling the product at the price people are willing to pay.

  22. Re: Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except your Android phone won't be able to run iOS. Therefore it's worth less than the $100 you spent. Enjoy your spyware infested shitphone.

  23. Peak Fumble by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

    I think the quest for ever thinner phones and ever thinner batteries is to blame.

    MARKETING! STAT! New product and campaign. Moshi moshi.

    New phone rounded edges and corners thinner no buttons.
    Like all our other phones?
    No, different. Quadrilateral yet not rectangular. This shape.
    That is a coffin shape. Looks like.
    Yes I drew it much to show, but real angle here no more than 5 degrees off vertical.
    But everything we make is rectangular! People want display go to edge.
    Make people want this instead. Put button or something in edge part, new shape is important.
    Why this idea? Why now?
    We must change. Our product line has reached 'peak fumble'.
    So the Fumble Working Group told you this?
    Yes. First they tell us, we must pay Hollywood to have actors toss phone to each other in movies.
    +Then they tell us in commercials people must do everything with one hand. Like card trick.
    +Then they say side buttons flush with case because they were helping fingers hold on.
    +Then it was thin! Thin! Thin! So hand cannot securely wrap around, phone pops up and out.
    + But now they say we reach 'peak frumble'. Phones dropping has leveled off. Must do something.
    How will new shape help?
    We have years of rectangular phone now, thin phone. People nervous, hold it tightly, right?
    And?
    This new phone when you squeeze will shoot out of hand like pumpkin seed! Is brilliant!
    That is nice. You should do it both ways make wedge shaped too thicker on display end.
    Why so?
    Young female demographic, tight jeans rear pocket. They sit down and their phone extracts itself easily.
    Yes! These two things work together. We need to form a Lost Phone Working Group.
    Great, now we need to hear from Suddenly Screen Crack Working Group. How are things?
    Screen crack in warranty is down, but post-warranty screen crack is line that falls, like so.
    Needs improvement. Tell us again about your tension over time initiative.
    Bezel glass is mounted on gasket, and we start with gasket thicker on one end.
    +Then heat treat and press gasket flat before manufacture. Case allows expansion but glass does not.
    +This way we can reach triple tension on glass two months out of warranty.
    + At one year even more. Even one meter drop onto wood surface triggers fracture.
    I have seen the report. But to provide this tension, the gasket must be backed with metal, yes?
    Unfortunately yes. A thin but strong outer frame casting of treated steel. Heavy.
    True, but increased heaviness improves the cracking profile because it results in more impact.
    GOOD, THEN. We will go with the new shape, thicker on one end, and sell the idea that heavier is good.
    + That should be easy. We introduce idea herring that heavier means you can hold onto it easier.
    + And go with the tension gasket idea. I want to see a crack profile that starts peaking at six months.
    + And we must strive for total cracking by a year and one half. One hundred percent, people!
    Meeting is adjourned.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  24. Schadenfreude by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    I am deriving lots of schadenfreude from this fracas. I just hope that Samsung, a rather despicable company, with their heavy-handedness, built-in obsolescence, arrogance, and useless customer service, will not recover from this.

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

      Shouldn't you be singing in the choir at the five minute hate at Appleinsider?

    2. Re:Schadenfreude by macs4all · · Score: 0

      I am deriving lots of schadenfreude from this fracas. I just hope that Samsung, a rather despicable company, with their heavy-handedness, built-in obsolescence, arrogance, and useless customer service, will not recover from this.

      Not to mention that they wouldn't even have a viable Smartphone business at this point if they hadn't copied the original iPhone (and in fact, every other iPhone thereafter) down to nearly the last pixel.

    3. Re: Schadenfreude by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

      Nope. If I do not despise the fruit company as much as I despise Samsung it is because I have never had to deal with the latter.

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

      You are so correct, I am so happy apple pioneered the use of a excellent built in stylus and wireless charging.

    5. Re:Schadenfreude by macs4all · · Score: 1

      You are so correct, I am so happy apple pioneered the use of a excellent built in stylus and wireless charging.

      They had a stylus with the Newton; so, yes, yes they did pioneer the stylus.

      But actually NOT, I am informed by the interwebs that the first use of a Stylus was in 1957 with a device called, appropriately enough, "The Styalator". But it is interesting to note that, in the History of "Pen Computing" (which actually somewhat dates back to the 1880s!!!), Samsung is mentioned NOWHERE (but the Newton, ahem, IS)...

      As for wireless charging, actually I "pioneered" it (but for laptops) almost 7 or 8 years before ANYONE else did it; but stupidly didn't act on it.

      But, as you can see here, Samsung didn't invent Wireless charging, either (not by a LONG shot!); so, what's your point?

  25. Dearh note by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gives a new meaning to the phone!

  26. Re: Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And this is why we love fanbois.

  27. Re:Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your a fucking idiot

  28. Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple continues to sell its iPhone 6 with touch-illness, without acknowledging it at all. Why do Samsung get so much flak and shit, when they are doing everything they can to fix this? If you want someone to call the worst and dishonest of the phone manufacturers, look to Apple instead.

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

      Apple no longer sells the iPhone 6. It was discontinued when the 7 was released.

    2. Re:Meanwhile by macs4all · · Score: 0

      Apple continues to sell its iPhone 6 with touch-illness, without acknowledging it at all. Why do Samsung get so much flak and shit, when they are doing everything they can to fix this? If you want someone to call the worst and dishonest of the phone manufacturers, look to Apple instead.

      1. This iPhone 6 isn't for sale anymore. You're thinking of the 6s. Do try to keep up, Hater.

      2. The issue with the display controllers is a damned PRODUCTION issue, not a DESIGN flaw.

      If you want someone to blame, blame the fucking EU with their damned RoHS directives. If electronic solder still had LEAD in it, like God intended, we wouldn't have BGA parts breaking-free from their PCBs at the slightest provocation. Metallurgy has developed over centuries, but with a stroke of a pen, the chemists were sent back to the drawing board to find a substitute for that which has no substitute.

      There's a reason the Aerospace industry is EXEMPT from RoHs. They need their shit to WORK, regardless if it gets jiggled around, subjected to temperature changes, flexed a little, installed on a slightly warped PCB, etc.

      And before you say "But no one else has this problem", do a little Googling. You'll find LOTS of similar problems with HTC, LG, Samsung, etc. It's a RoHS thing; but none of those other phones (unless they catch on fire a lot) make for Clickbait on Slashdot like the iPhone does. But the stories are there. But do your own research, Hater.

    3. Re:Meanwhile by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      If you want someone to blame, blame the fucking EU with their damned RoHS directives. If electronic solder still had LEAD in it, like God intended, we wouldn't have BGA parts breaking-free from their PCBs at the slightest provocation. Metallurgy has developed over centuries, but with a stroke of a pen, the chemists were sent back to the drawing board to find a substitute for that which has no substitute.

      God intended kids in poor countries who end up mining first world disposable e-trash to get lead poisoning.

      And before you say "But no one else has this problem", do a little Googling. You'll find LOTS of similar problems with HTC, LG, Samsung, etc. It's a RoHS thing; but none of those other phones (unless they catch on fire a lot) make for Clickbait on Slashdot like the iPhone does. But the stories are there. But do your own research, Hater

      Problems and solutions associated with removing lead are well studied and widely implemented. If your still making EXCUSES for vendors who failed to adapt and get the memo some dozen years after the fact that's on you. Customers don't care about lame excuses they care about outcomes.

      There is no excuse for unsafe or failure prone products by any vendor.

    4. Re:Meanwhile by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Problems and solutions associated with removing lead are well studied and widely implemented.

      Yes, and every single one of them is INFERIOR in one or more ways to Lead.

      Look, I get it for water pipes. Making plumbing solder Lead-Free was generally a Good Thing. But for electronics, a "reclamation" system would have been a far better solution than making every single solder joint since around 2006 suck serious ass.

      And if you think this is an "Apple" or "Contract Manufacturer" problem, it is FAR from that simple. There's real metallurgy going on in eutectic soldering, and some of that "black magic" is not easily substituted or "worked-around".

      Maybe someone with some in-depth knowledge of the physics of soldering could chime in and either tell me why I'm wrong, or why I'm right...

      Oh, and you say that "Consumers don't care about excuses, they care about results", you are exactly right. And the ONLY reason that Apple is getting sued and not Samsung, LG and HTC, that ALSO have these problems, is because they are a very lucrative,. and visible target. As I said, when the ENTIRE Aerospace industry says "Nyet" to RoHS (and particularly to lead-free soldering), that oughta be a clue.

  29. Root cause undetermined by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Realistically as other have said....how much money could Samsung have saved if they had made the battery removable and just sent everyone a replacement battery?

    You are presuming the battery is the actual root cause of the problem. Odds are very good that the source of the failure is somewhere else. In fact swapping the battery appears to be the first thing Samsung actually did and they still are having problems.

    If that's not the issue, then obviously that's not going to solve the problem, but the quest for super thin phones is the cause of these issues.

    It's not at all clear that that is true. Nobody currently knows what they actual cause of the problem is including apparently Samsung. It could be buggy control software. It could be improperly designed thermal management. It could be from physical damage. It could be any number of other possible failure modes, many of which have little or nothing to do with the thickness of the device.

    Why make a phone this thin if you're just going to put it in an otterbox?

    A fair question but not obviously related to the business at hand of figuring out why this particular model of phone is combusting with significant frequency. I tend to be in the camp that wants a thicker phone and better battery & more durability for the record. I like a light and thin phone but it's not the only important consideration to me.

  30. You missed a spot by Overzeetop · · Score: 1
    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  31. *Because* the put it in an otterbox. by aussersterne · · Score: 1

    I don't use protectors of any kind, but I knew more than just a couple middle-America, middle-class folks who ALWAYS get the hardest, most solid-looking case they can find (irrespective of whether these actually help or which cases perform best). Why? Because their phone is one of their largest investments and a critical piece of everyday tech that they want to protect.

    They appreciate the thinnest phone possible precisely because *after* they put it in an Otterbox it will still be manageable, whereas when they had an iPhone 4 or whatever, the Otterbox made it significantly thicker than an old Nokia candybar.

    --
    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
  32. Design a better phone by sjbe · · Score: 1

    They appreciate the thinnest phone possible precisely because *after* they put it in an Otterbox it will still be manageable, whereas when they had an iPhone 4 or whatever, the Otterbox made it significantly thicker than an old Nokia candybar.

    Or a better solution could be for Apple (and other smartphone makers) to release a phone that didn't actually require a protective case in the first place. Design it so that it can take a beating. Yes this would be thicker and speaking solely for myself I would be fine with that. Nobody used to have a protective case on their Nokia because it didn't need one. There is no fundamental reason why smartphones have to be different in that regard.

    1. Re:Design a better phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now people can CHOOSE how much protection they want or choose to add a better case. That is why it is better - more choice.

      The other options are: 1) "take this more expensive, larger phone" or 2) add another version of the phone with a beefed up frame and battery

      #2 increases costs for all phones and #1 is a doomed to fail strategy.

  33. Re:Impossible by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Apple is a company who only builds overpriced shit

    Overpriced yes, shit no.

    Considering the GN7 costs MORE than an equivalent memory iPhone 7 (and even 7 Plus!), I don't know where you're getting your "overpriced" meme, Jackson!

  34. Re:Impossible by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Your a fucking idiot

    Ya know, calling another an "idiot" is ever-so-much more effective if you actually know how to use your/you're correctly.

    Idiot.

    Can we PLEASE just ban ACs now? Pretty please?!?

  35. Re:Impossible by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    Then do it. Find an Android smartphone with the performance of iPhone 7, the cameras, the features - all for $100.

    Put up or shut up. I know you won't be able to, because no Android phone has the performance alone, much less the other stuff. And the best performing Android phones are far more than $100.

    So prove me wrong. Link a $100 Android phone that has the performance of an iPhone 7.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  36. Re:Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, grow a thicker skin fanboi.

  37. Two words by rijrunner · · Score: 1

    Replaceable batteries

  38. Re:Impossible by macs4all · · Score: 0

    No, grow a thicker skin fanboi.

    What does my dermal thickness have to do with your lack of language skills?

    I just love the way ACs can dish it out all day long, but can't take even one little negative observation of themselves.

  39. On word... by neo-mkrey · · Score: 1

    plastics.

  40. Just temporarly? by BlytheBowman · · Score: 2

    It's time for Samsung to consider that phone model deader than a doornail. The bad press is widespread, the jokes about it are still pouring out, people's confedence in the product is lost and never comming back no matter what their marketing droids do. What Samsung needs to do is bury it, and their next product should not even bear the "Galaxy Note" name, otherwise it's financial suicide.

  41. Could be transport conditions by La+Gris · · Score: 1

    So, likely Samsung could not really reproduce the defect and verify the causes in their own lab or they would not have shipped replacement devices with same defect.

    One possibility is that the battery, charging circuits or even the heat dissipating glue to keep the battery in-place gets damaged during shipment. How much control is there on sea containers for extreme temperature variations, humidity or vibrations?
    I can figure thermal glue loosing contact with the battery (or other hot operating component) on extreme temperatures. Or contacts loosing proper alignment on some vibrations frequencies and amplitudes. Could also be low pressure during flight transport that's causing damages to the battery. Would explain why a Note7 caught fire in a plane.

    --
    Léa Gris