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Samsung To Reveal This Month What Caused the Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone To Catch Fire - Report (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the putting-an-end dept.

One of the biggest mysteries of 2016 will come to an end sometime this month. Samsung will make public the results of its months-long investigation into what caused several Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to turn into flames later this month, according to a report on Reuters. From the report: The South Korean firm said in October it was examining all aspects of the phone, suggesting there may be a combination of factors that contributed to one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history. Samsung has also previously noted that it was working with several third-party sources and experts to figure out what could have caused the error. A popular theory among many is that Samsung attempted to further slim the form factor of the Galaxy Note 7, which resulted in the battery to be held too tightly within the device -- which in turn, caused the layers of lithium cobalt oxide and graphite to touch.

9 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This month? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did someone set us up the bomb?

    That's a common misconception, but what happen is someone set up us the bomb.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. O-rings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not convinced they actually know what caused it, nor that they're capable of understanding it. After all, they already claimed to have solved it once, but their understanding proved faulty. What's certain is that the public and the authorities need a good plausible explanation (whether true or not) so they can feel safe and begin to trust Samsung again.

  3. Re:This month? by TomR+teh+Pirate · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The OP's comment was mean to be taken as funny, and it was. Your solution to put it in quotes is helpful, but then it suggests somebody at Samsung made an explicit statement matching what you put in quotes. Ironic that you should then indict the American educational system given your solution is a little bit sloppy. A better title might have read, 'Samsung to reveal this month the cause of Galaxy Note 7 fires"

  4. They Don't Know? by BoRegardless · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Samsung didn't know from their internal engineers within 2 weeks of the problem, they have a shitty engineering/QC organization.

  5. I don't understand by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What's up with this 'thinner' obsession?

    Everybody I know uses either a fat battery-cover to have more power or an armored cover to protect the slim phones.
    And as for tablets, I prefer the fat toddler-covers which allow a much more relaxed grip on these ultra-thin tablets.

    1. Re:I don't understand by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, let's separate out utility value from design value. A thinner phone is somewhat more convenient all things being equal, but thing's aren't equal. We're obviously at the point where many consumers would prefer a marginal improvement in robustness over a marginal reduction in thinness.

      But you've got to get people to buy the thing, and part of that is to make them say, "Wow this is new," when they hold the device. It doesn't take a lot of creativity to make them say that by making the phone thinner than the one they currently carry. You must make it thinner than the last generation of phones. So the usefulness of more thinness isn't for the user, it's for the salesman.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:I don't understand by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Interesting

      All things being equal, thinner isn't better (on electronics, lets make sure we're all on the same page here). As nospam points out, the new iPads are so frigging thin and slippery that they are hard to hold. They look nice just siting there but they're a PITA to use. Maybe they really are like people. Although it's nice to think of them naked, the real world goes a lot more smoothly if they are covered with something.

      Somebody really has issues and it ain't us.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:I don't understand by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Funny

      What's up with this 'thinner' obsession?

      one year at CES, there was an angry gypsy that whispered "thinner" into the microphone and all our electronics have been suffering ever since. ;)

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  6. Good to note.. heh by XSportSeeker · · Score: 3, Informative

    "A popular theory among many is that Samsung attempted to further slim the form factor of the Galaxy Note 7"

    This popular theory came from a private company that disassembled a single unit and came up with the speculation just to promote their own company, yet it has been spread by the tech press irresponsibly as a specialist opinnion.

    Though the theory is plausible, it has no substance. So it' s a good thing that an official statement will be coming out soon.