In order to stop its Galaxy Note 7 phones from exploding, Samsung is allegedly readying a software update that will cap battery capacity at 60%.
That’s coming from a South Korean newspaper where Samsung took out an ad to announce the update, according to the Associated Press.
By limiting the battery capacity of recalled Note 7s, Samsung hopes to reduce the chance of explosions due to overheating. This isn’t a guarantee that the phone won’t explode, and will serve more as a reminder for owners to exchange their phones.
“It is a measure to put consumer safety first but we apologize for causing inconvenience,” reads the ad. Samsung plans to start rolling out the update in Korea on September 20, and there’s currently no information on whether it will be released globally. We’ve asked Samsung for more details, and will update this post if we hear back.
Meanwhile, Yonhap News Agency reports that Samsung is in talks with mobile carriers to deliver the battery-capping update to protect users while its massive Note 7 recall gets underway.
Recall headache
Samsung issued a global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 phones after numerous reports surface of the device exploding while charging. The phones were deemed dangerous enough that US Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration both issued warnings to stop using the devices, including while on board aircraft.
The recall is so massive that it will reportedly cost Samsung an estimated $1 billion to replace all affected Galaxy Note 7 phones and to compensate its customers.
Adding insult to injury, the Note 7 fiasco has sent Samsung shares tumbling while chief rival Apple celebrates the iPhone 7 launch. For its sake, Samsung needs to resolve the Note 7 issues quickly before the new iPhone steals more of its thunder.
Source: techradar.com
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My god…Could you imagine the coverage if an iPhone was exploding? Barack Obama would have made a speech by now. (Explosion gate) I think Samsung are getting off very lightly during the dangerous episode.
The opposite is true. When the news about Touch Disease came out it took several days for many of the tech sites I read to report on it. It was like they were afraid of losing their invite to the iPhone launch event. On the other hand the Note 7 battery woes made every single one of them on day one.
Now, 2 days ago, reports began to surface that the phone that the 6 year old kid was holding when it burst into flames (another story reported everywhere day one btw) wasn't a Note 7 after all. It was a year old Galaxy Prime with a removable battery from some other manufacturer and only 1 of the 6 tech sites I visit daily(Pocket Now) have bothered to report on it yet !
It's sad but true, Apple pretty much has the media in their back pocket.
Err… There's only 15% of All Android phones running on Marshmallow (6.0) right? So consider that almost no one would update! Boom!