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Samsung May Permanently Disable Galaxy Note 7 Phones In The US As Soon As Next Week (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the paper-weight dept.

Those who are still clinging on to their Galaxy Note 7, even after Samsung recalled the devices due to faulty batteries in mid-September, may want to seriously reconsider returning them to the Korean company. The Verge has obtained an image of an alert that went out to at least one Note 7 owner on U.S. Cellular today stating that, "As of December 15th, Samsung will modify the software to prevent the Galaxy Note 7 from charging. The phone will no longer work." The Verge reports: It's not clear whether Note 7s will be disabled across the major U.S. carriers as well, but it seems likely that'll be the case. In the past, updates disabling Note 7 features have rolled out across Verizon, ATT, and other carriers within a matter of days. That's probably what'll happen here, as well. By preventing the phone from charging, Samsung takes the final step to making the phone entirely unusable. It's still offering Note 7 owners the ability to fully return the phone or exchange it for another Samsung device. As of November 4th, when Samsung last provided an update, 85 percent of Note 7s sold in the U.S. had been recovered. That still left around 285,000 phones unaccounted for. Completely disabling the phone seems to be Samsung's last-ditch effort to either recover the remaining devices or remove what risk they still pose to consumers.

10 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. you no longer own your devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even if they are fire hazards, this isn't right, you no longer own your own devices. I didn't realize I was leasing my fire starter brick :(

    1. Re:you no longer own your devices by Jzanu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Samsung pays for returns. The phones are disabled at the carrier. Otherwise you can keep your brick/bomb. In civilized countries you are not allowed items that endanger the public with no other function.

    2. Re:you no longer own your devices by ranton · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They should be forced to reimburse you the full price of the item they damaged. That will teach them. Oh wait...

      And reimburse you for any cancellation fees for any carrier plans you may have signed up for, and replace your old phone for the same price you traded it in for. Lets not pretend Samsung fully reimbursed their Note 7 customers.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    3. Re:you no longer own your devices by jareth-0205 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In active safety recall it has been carrier disabled for faulty hardware. It has no other function.

      Without mobile network access it still has bluetooth, wifi, plays games. It's a fully functioning computer. You're showing a colossal lack of imagination.

  2. Great that they can control your property by NotInHere · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This time, they use it for good, but what when its used for bad?

    1. Re:Great that they can control your property by CeasedCaring · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean like the time Amazon erased "1984" & "Animal Farm" from EVERYONE'S Kindle? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07...

    2. Re:Great that they can control your property by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm fairly certain it is impossible to have a self-updating OS on a device and also prevent the controller of the self-update process from installing malware. So, I'd say there is nothing wrong with the system at the moment and our rage is best withheld until such time that they actually abuse their power.

      I think you're putting the cart before the horse here, the question is whether it's okay to have automatically self-updating systems where the company that manufactured it by default has full control over it, regardless of whether the owner actually wants the updates or want to apply them now or if critical security updates are baked into huge system upgrades. It's a big trend but I don't think it's a good trend, tomorrow Microsoft can shut down your computer, Samsung your smart-TV, Google your cell phone, Tesla your car, Kindle your eBook-reader and so on. If you go all IoT or "smart house" pretty much anything you own can shut down because somebody out there wants it to. Granted, we're also quite fucked if the bank freezes our bank accounts and all the utilities shut you off, but we're expanding it to everything. It's another way to hollow out what ownership is and means.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  3. That rarest of events by onyxruby · · Score: 4, Insightful

    An actual case where the manufacturer is disabling the product in the best interest of the public. Who knows when we'll see it's like again. Someday you'll get to tell your kids about the day this happened...

    1. Re:That rarest of events by dstyle5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How is this not in the public's best interest? I certainly don't want to be in a hotel, apartment building, at work, on public transit, etc. with some dumbass who has steadfastly refused to return their phone and poses a risk to me and others. Even driving to work some idiot might panic if the phone starts on fire and cause a car accident. This is most definitely in the public's best interest and should've happened sooner, IMHO.

  4. Re:civilized countries by Jzanu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Have experience with the extreme right and having a new government constructed afterwards in particular to avoid repeating that error gives Germany strength.