If you haven’t already turned in your potentially explosive, recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7, now is the time: Samsung plans to disconnect the phones from cellular networks — at least in New Zealand. [More]
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Samsung Recalls 2.8 Million Top-Loading Washing Machines Because You Shouldn’t Break Your Jaw Doing The Laundry
By 11.4.16
Back in September, federal safety regulators advised owners of Samsung washing machine owners to go easy on their heavy laundry loads after several folks had complained about violent, almost explosive, vibrations. Now, more than a month later, Samsung is recalling nearly 3 million machines and disclosing that these washers have done some significant damage to users — like breaking one person’s jaw. [More]
Are Explosion-Proof Batteries On The Way?
By 11.3.16
Between Samsung’s massive Galaxy Note 7 recall, hoverboards that catch fire, and e-cigarettes that unexpectedly combust, there has been no shortage of dangerous examples that suggest some batteries — specifically of the lithium-ion type — found in popular electronics are susceptible to explosions. Now, scientists are working to create a safer alternative power source. [More]
South Korean Customers Sue Samsung Over Galaxy Note 7
By 10.25.16
It took less than a week for attorneys in a class action suit against Samsung in South Korea to round up 500 customers interested in demanding compensation from the company after their experience with the Galaxy Note 7 recall. Public opinion has turned against Samsung in its home country as well as in the rest of the world, leading to the worst crisis in company history. [More]
The Inside Story Of How Samsung Botched The Galaxy Note 7 Recall
By 10.24.16
One important decision by Samsung executives turned the Galaxy Note 7 from a big but manageable product defect to a brand-destroying disaster. Reports from all over the world were coming in of Galaxy Note 7 fires, along with pressure from mobile carriers and from customers to do something about it. Yet the company didn’t know exactly what was causing the batteries to explode. [More]
Samsung Tries To Move Past Galaxy Note 7 Debacle With Discounts On Note 8 In South Korea
By 10.24.16
Samsung may have discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone earlier this month after a massive recall linked to reports that the devices had the tendency to overheat and explode, but that doesn’t mean the tech company is ready to throw in the towel on the entire Galaxy Note line. In fact, a new report suggests the company is still planning a new version of the devices and offering customers in South Korea a discount if they stick around. [More]
Apple Investigating Report Of iPhone 7 Catching Fire
By 10.21.16
While we’ve heard numerous reports of Samsung smartphones and tablets overheating and catching fire — sometimes destroying property and injuring customers — now Apple is on the receiving end of at least one similar report. [More]
Galaxy Note 7 Owners Unhappy With Samsung’s Handling Of Global Recall
By 10.20.16
One of the early victims of an exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 said that the company offered to cover his expenses, including damage to the hotel room he was staying in at the time his phone caught fire. Now that the phone has been officially recalled and Samsung is in crisis, customers report that Samsung hasn’t handled customers whose phones have actually caught fire very well. [More]
Senator Wants To Know What’s Up With Samsung’s Lithium-Ion Batteries
By 10.19.16
While Samsung says it tested the batteries used in its now recalled and defunct Galaxy Note 7 devices before putting them in consumers’ hands, there are still plenty of unanswered questions related to how such a dangerous problem — exploding phones — could have gone unnoticed. [More]
Galaxy Note 7 Owners Sue Samsung After Being Left Without Phones For Weeks
By 10.18.16
Before any official recall was announced, Samsung offered replacement devices or refunds to owners of potentially explosive Galaxy Note 7 phones, but some customers maintain that the company still left them hanging without a smartphone for too long. [More]
Samsung Setting Up Note 7 Exchange Booths At Airports Around The World
By 10.18.16
You’re walking toward airport security when suddenly, you remember that you haven’t exchanged your recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 — and you aren’t allowed to bring it on your flight due to a new federal ban prohibiting the devices on all planes, lest they catch fire. What’s a traveler to do? [More]
Samsung Did Test Galaxy Note 7 Batteries Before Selling Phones, But Only In-House
By 10.17.16 — Updated: 10.18.16
As we all know by now, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone has a pretty big design flaw in it that makes the batteries extra-flammable. The phone is totally recalled and permanently off the market now, an expensive debacle for Samsung. But how, one might wonder, does a flaw that big actually escape notice during testing? Was there even testing? [More]
Feds Announce Airplane Ban For All Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones
By 10.14.16
The Department of Transportation, along with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), have officially issued an emergency order to ban all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from air transportation in the U.S., deeming the devices “forbidden hazardous material.” [More]
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 Debacle Will Likely Cost Company $3B
By 10.14.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Surprise! All the trouble Samsung has had with its Galaxy Note 7 — the non-recall, the official recall, scrapping the production of the devices, and finally, the recall of replacement phones — is going to hit the company where it hurts: right in the piggy bank. [More]
Why Don’t Carriers Just Kick The Galaxy Note 7 Off Their Networks?
By 10.13.16
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]
Samsung Officially Recalls All Galaxy Note 7 Phones, Including Replacement Devices
By 10.13.16
Not even two months after Samsung first released the Galaxy Note 7, the phone has already been recalled and replaced, only to be discontinued. Now, for the second time in five weeks, Samsung and U.S. safety regulators have issued an official recall covering all Galaxy Note 7 phones. [More]
Recycling 2.5 Million Galaxy Note 7 Phones At Once Is An Environmental Disaster And An Opportunity
By 10.12.16
Samsung is now gathering up the millions of discontinued and recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold around the world, with the help of retailers, ground transportation companies, and kits that include safety gloves and multiple layers of fireproof boxes. Yet that’s just the first step in retiring all of those devices. “Recycling” smartphones still usually means recycling their parts into a refurbished phone, not recycling the phone’s materials into a new phone or another object. [More]
