Even when a recall is heavily publicized, not all of the items are recovered and returned to the manufacturer. That may be the case with the Galaxy Note 7, a smartphone that has a small chance of suddenly exploding for reasons that even the manufacturer still doesn’t fully understand. So why don’t phone carriers just block the devices from their networks, or why doesn’t Samsung remotely brick the devices to force customers to stop using them? Turns out that’s a tricky legal and ethical issue. [More]
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Overheating Samsung Tablet Blamed For Delta Flight Diversion
By 9.26.16
A Delta Air Lines flight was diverted over the weekend when a Samsung device overheated after being jammed between seats. But the device wasn’t the recently recalled Samsung Note 7 smartphone, it was an unspecified tablet from the device maker. [More]
FAA Considers Banning Samsung Galaxy Note 7; Another User Reports Explosion
By 9.7.16
Samsung still hasn’t officially recalled the Galaxy Note 7, its new smartphone that has a rare but very problematic issue with exploding batteries. While the company has admitted that the phones are defective and has an exchange program in place, it’s not an official recall through the Consumer Products Safety Commission. That’s a problem for the Federal Aviation Administration, since the phone would automatically be banned from planes if it had been recalled. It hasn’t, so it’s not. [More]
Samsung Wants iPhone Users To Test Drive A Galaxy Smartphone For 30 Days
By 8.21.15
If you’re an iPhone user who’s been flirting with the idea of switching to an Android phone, it’s understandable that you might be resistant to change — it can take some getting used to when you switch from one operating system to another, in either direction. Samsung wants to take that uncertainty away for iPhone users with a new promo that allows those folks to test drive one of a few Galaxy smartphones for a month. [More]
Samsung Rolling Out Security Update To Fix Keyboard Vulnerability That Affects Up To 600M Galaxy Phones
By 6.19.15
After a security researcher found a flaw in the way Samsung phones update their SwiftKey keyboard software that leaves Galaxy phone owners open to hack attacks, the company says it’s rolling out a security update in the next few days that will address the vulnerability. [More]
New Jersey Dealership Goes Under, Leaves Customers Without Titles To Their Cars
By 9.21.09
When Patrick Dunn’s auto dealership in New Jersey went out of business a few months ago, something weird happened to “40 or 50” customers who had bought cars from him, writes Bob Braun at NJ.com. The company Dunn had taken out business loans with, Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC), went to Arkansas and asked for reposession of the cars in New Jersey. The Arkansas department of motor vehicles assumed AFC meant for unsold cars on the lot, so they granted the request—and now AFC says it owns titles to cars that people are already driving and paying for.
