Slashdot Mirror
US Issues Emergency Ban On Flying With Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Offenders May Face Criminal Prosecution (transportation.gov)
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will be banned from aircraft in the United States starting at noon EDT (1600 GMT) under an emergency order, regulators said on Friday. Among other penalties, those who attempt to circumvent the ban could be subjected to criminal prosecutions, the regulators added. Quartz reports: On Friday (Oct. 14), US Department of Transportation announced that passengers would no longer be able to bring the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 onto any flight in the United States. There have been nearly 100 reported cases of the phones catching on fire and spewing noxious black smoke, an undesired situation in an airplane's enclosed cabin. "Individuals who own or possess a Samsung Galaxy Note7 device may not transport the device on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States," the US DOT statement said. Any travelers who violate the ban could be subject to criminal prosecution and fines. Samsung is expected to see a $5.3 billion loss in profits from the entire fiasco, mainly the cost of recalling, stopping production, and destroying phones.Samsung said it will send a text message to all Note 7 users to let them know about this ban.
Now, if only we could get a similar ban on iPhones, which also have a history of catching fire. It certainly is telling that the government is quick to crack down on a Korean company, but the FTC won't so anything to Apple, an American company, about touch disease.
how many dumb-a$$es will just drop them in their checked bags instead?
I'm starting to think this was some kind of industrial espionage/cyberwarfare.
the Samsung Galaxy Pinto 7?
then twist while pulling up. Way to go, guv!
Not much talk on what exactly is causing these fires. My first impression was something was getting hot and compromising the battery. Since battery failures are actually rare. Which meant something was either physically compromising them or it was happening electrically. Because nothing else in a phone can create that much heat than a Lithium battery. With these phones cramming all the technology into a thin and small device. That also is getting faster hardware which typically results in more heat. One has to wonder going forward if other devices could have this problem. It certainly got past quality testing.
Who still has a note 7 still? When they started catching fire and exploding and samsung started to offer a full refund who thinks na I'm good.
Um, no.
if the battery is at fault, you would have to leave it at flight origin and buy a new one at destination. Not the best choice, is it?
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
if this phone is so dangerous that it cannot be allowed on planes, then it should not be allowed on planes starting NOW. Not in 24 hours.
Either that, or the risks aren't really that great, in which case there is no reason to start banning in 24 hours at all.
Funny!
Airport battery rentals would solve this.
Samsung said it will send a text message to all Note 7 users to let them know about this ban.
Well, that should be effective, seeing as how Samsung has told all Note 7 users to power off their phones.
This is reminiscent of IT departments that send out emails to users to tell them that the mail server is down.
Assuming anyone would want to hold a stock of batteries which could burst in flames any moment...
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Are you sure about the date and time? Yesterday (10/13) I took two US flights and before both there was an announcement that none of these phones were to be used on the flight.
And just establish a rule going forward, because SamSung is just the latest $flavor_of_the_year issue with lithium batteries.
Example: To bring any cell phone Or Non-TSA-certified laptop or electronic device aboard any plane, you must remove the battery and place the battery in a
poly container which you will purchase before security, and the gate attendant will seal and lock before you can board
the plane, where the battery will remain for the duration of the flight.
Any cell phone with a Non-removable Lithium-polymer or Lithium-ION battery may not be brought on-board;
for $100 you may purchase a larger sealed fireproof, smokeproof container to put the phone in which may then go into checked luggage, if it's not a Samsung Galaxy 7.
Honestly, this ban should be extended to all consumer grade devices that have non-removable batteries. Simply put, if your battery cannot be removed from the device, the safety of your device is strictly based on software. Consumer grade software has been known to fail in horrible ways.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
of a G7 user that just sat down on the seat but before plane is pushed off, and reading this article (unless TSA has a "amber alert" system to send out notices of newly banned items). I'm curious of kind of expression on their face.
mfwright@batnet.com
"Samsung is expected to see a $5.3 billion loss in profits from the entire fiasco"
$5 billion here, $5 billion there... pretty soon it adds up to real money.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Oh, the irony!
Have gnu, will travel.
All this could be avoided if we could just remove the fucking batteries from the fucking phones
But then how are you going to coerce ^H^H^H... convince users to upgrade their phones when their batteries die (but the rest of the phone is okay)? Hard-integrating batteries in a phone is a scam and should be made illegal! Karma's a bitch and she's collecting $5.3B from thieving Samsung.
What would you think if flashlights were sold with non-replaceable batteries? Fucking stupid or fucking greedy?
won't TSA screeners just confiscate Note7 phones (along with nail scissors and family sized toothpaste etc)
Phones don't kill people, their stupid lack of impulse control while crossing the road does.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
You can pay Apple (not sure about android phones, but I'd assume there's some kind of service) a fairly cheap fee ($79) to open the device and swap the battery. It's a lot cheaper than buying a whole new device.
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
I'm way behind on my beating quota.
People could supply a few on a freelance basis. It's the magic of the gig economy!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You consider $79 cheap?
A replacement battery for a phones usually costs something like $10-$20. Replacing a battery should take maybe 10 minutes on a phone that is not especially designed to make replacing the battery hard. So you're paying more than $60 for 10 minutes of work. That's not cheap.
It's all in lowercase, because he thinks that's "edgy" or something.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You consider $79 cheap? A replacement battery for a phones usually costs something like $10-$20. Replacing a battery should take maybe 10 minutes on a phone that is not especially designed to make replacing the battery hard. So you're paying more than $60 for 10 minutes of work. That's not cheap.
Compared with the price of a new phone, yes, $79 is fucking REALLY cheap.
Oh, and these aren't batteries that you can go buy at Batteries+. So don't try to insult us by comparing the highly-specific, top-of-battery-tech Smartphone's "pancake" battery with a AA-form-factor cordless telephone battery pack you can buy off the rack at Walmart.
And these phones aren't specifically designed to make battery replacement hard. They are specifically designed to make the phones THIN. I don't want to get into a philosophical discussion regarding that. I just put it out there as a fact.
That God the government is protecting us from this threat that almost killed us all.