Today it"s time for Verizon to kill its Samsung Galaxy Note7 units

Following a bit of a controversy regarding its initial decision to seemingly not send out the final update for the Galaxy Note7, Verizon then changed its mind and announced it would just be skipping the holiday season. The carrier"s release date for the infamous update was set as January 5, and guess what day today is?
That"s right. From this point on all remaining Note7 units purchased from Verizon will be receiving the software update that, once installed, will prevent the phones from charging. The message you can see in the screenshot to the left will pop up letting owners know what"s about to happen. The new software build version is MMB29M.N930VVRS3APL2.
AT&T"s rollout was also planned for today, but so far it doesn"t look like it"s started. It might just be a matter of hours, however. T-Mobile was the first to issue the update last month, while Sprint will send it out starting on January 8, concluding the rollout for the Big Four carriers in the US..

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Samsung Malaysia to power down all Galaxy Note7 units on Dec 31

Samsung will be killing the remaining Note7 units in Korea and so will do T-Mobile in the USA. The next carriers to proceed with the kill order are AT&T and Verizon on January 5, and Sprint on January 8. Now it seems Samsung Malaysia will be doing the same with the phablet on December 31.
The Galaxy Note7 users in Malaysia, who didn"t return or exchange their phablets and decided to keep using them, are now receiving push notifications for a final power down. The phone"s battery will be powered down to 0% by 9PM on December 31. There is nothing the owners can do to stop that, so they should backup their data immediately and return the phone.
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 keepers in Malaysia are still eligible for a full refund or a Galaxy S7 edge exchange, so they should probably do that.
We guess Samsung will proceed with killing the active Note7 worldwide in the upcoming months or weeks, so if anyone of our readers is still using such device – they must exchange it as soon as..

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T-Mobile is killing the remaining Galaxy Note7 units today

Samsung may only be be in the planning stages for its Note7-disabling update in South Korea, but over in the US things are in full swing. The company announced earlier this month that such an update would be sent out to all remaining Note7 units in the US starting on December 19. And now it"s time for the first of the Big Four carriers to push the software to devices it"s sold.
That carrier is T-Mobile, which is starting the rollout today. The update will prevent the handset for charging, and will display a notification with information about Samsung"s Galaxy Note7 recall and the steps needed to return the device. The build number for the update is N930TUVU2APL2.
Obviously, Samsung is hoping that this will convince even the last holdouts to take their Note7s back. If you bought yours from T-Mobile, you can return it without paying any restocking fee, and you"ll get a $25 bill credit for doing so, with an additional $75 bill credit if you"re switching to anoth..

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Samsung now plans to remotely kill remaining Note7 units in Korea

Last week, Samsung decided to give more time to Galaxy Note7 in South Korea and elected not to entirely kill the remaining 140,000 units in the wild. In a new development today, however, the tech giant seems to have changed its mind and will allegedly be killing said units after all. To quote the official spokesperson:
Samsung is considering to push the software update to the Note 7 in Korea that can limit the battery charge of the device as the exchange rate has exceeded 90 percent here Now, the statement does mention “limit”, however, since Korean units did already receive the initial preemptive update, capping the charge to 60%, the most likely escalation would naturally be killing the devices – a process already underway in many other markets.
The OTA will likely hit SK Telecom units first, with other carrier, like KT and LG Uplus expected to follow soon. To accommodate the new measures to some extent, Samsung has also extended its exchange or return program until the end of Janu..

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Prankster creates Wi-Fi hotspot: "Galaxy Note7" in-flight, captain threatens to land early

As you know, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is totally forbidden from boarding any US airline due to safety concerns of batteries that have ignited due to a flaw in their design. This is as per the US DOT (Deparment of Transportation) who issued the nationwide ban.
Well, someone thought it would be fun to see people’s reactions when they renamed their own portable Wi-Fi Hotspot to ‘Samsung Galaxy Note 7_1097’ which raised dire concerns mid-flight the overnight service from San Francisco to Boston. A passenger was aboard the Virgin Airlines flight that tweeted a screenshot of the Wi-Fi network seen onboard.
Open my laptop on the plane and notice a Galaxy Note 7 wifi hotspot https://t.co/y1csn9gOsZ pic.twitter.com/9Z5IJULuPs
— Lucas Wojciechowski (@lucaswoj) December 20, 2016 Once the crew found out, a call went out for the passenger with a Note7 to press their call button. When nobody fessed up, the captain announced that the plane would have to make an emergency landing so they can search ..

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Sony Xperia XZ emerges as top late 2016 flagship after Note7"s demise

Are you a glass half full or half empty kind of person? It seems that Sony fans are the former – when Apteligent reported that the canceled and recalled Samsung Galaxy Note7 is still more popular than a number of other prominent flagships, Sony fans focused on the fact that the Xperia XZ is by far the leading late-2016 Android flagship.
This puts it ahead of fan darlings like the Google Pixels, the latest flagship from Android standby Motorola, the feature-loaded LG V20, the controversial-but-liked OnePlus 3T and the heavily promoted HTC Bolt (aka 10 Evo outside the US).
Note: Galaxy Note7 numbers have been excluded An impressive achievement to be sure, it shows that Sony got something right that the others (other than Apple and Samsung that is) did not. Motorola in particular seems to have mucked up, Apteligent data shows that Moto Z shares slipped after Black Friday, showing that flagship from competitors had a bigger draw.
Putting Android aside for a moment, it seems that Apple d..

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Unreturned Samsung Galaxy Note7 units in South Korea won"t be killed this year

Unlike in the US, Samsung has no plans to kill off un-returned Galaxy Note7 units in South Korea this year, according to a new report. The tech giant might instead roll out another battery limiting update in the country, similar to the one it has pushed out in Europe.
So far, around 85% of the total number of Galaxy Note7 units sold in South Korea have been returned. However, the remaining 15% still translates into around 140,000 units, which is quite a big number.
Citing industry sources, the report says Samsung may face strong backlash from users if it kills off the remaining units soon, adding that the firm may wait until the return rate hits 95%.
Source

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Samsung Singapore to disable remaining Note7 devices on December 28

According to Samsung of Singapore, more than 95% of recalled Galaxy Note7 devices have already been recovered, refunded, or exchanged for a safely-operating smartphone. However, Samsung still needs to recover the remaining number of Note7 devices that are still being used out there.
In an effort to collect the final wave of devices in Singapore, Samsung will be pushing an OTA update starting on December 28, which will disable the battery from accepting a charge, and the phone will no longer be able to power on.
Samsung Electronics Singapore will be implementing a software update on 28 December 2016, which will restrict all Galaxy Note7’s battery charge to zero percent. Galaxy Note7 customers who have yet to participate in the exchange/refund programme are urged to back up their data in the Galaxy Note7 immediately and power down their device. Such update disabling unaccounted-for Note7 devices has been announced other regions including Korea, the United States, and Canada.
If you ha..

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Galaxy Note7"s Y-OCTA display headed to the Galaxy S8

Samsung is reportedly bringing the Y-OCTA display tech, first seen on the Galaxy Note7, to the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship. Even better, Samsung may end up using the exact same display on the S8.
The Galaxy S8 has been subjected to some wild speculations over the past few months. The interest towards the upcoming flagship is huge post the Note7 global recall. Recently we heard the S8 may end up using an RGB AMOLED screen, an arrangement the company last used the Galaxy S II. It was unclear if it will be put on the 5.7″ or the 6.2″ flavors of the S8, or both.
Today, a source is claiming Samsung may end up using the same 5.7″ Super AMOLED panels with Quad HD resolution and Y-OCTA technology that were put on the retired Note7 phablet.
The Y-OCTA is a new manufacturing process that allows Samsung to cut display costs and thickness by embedding the touch sensors within the screen panel itself, instead of putting a touch layer between the panel and the protective glass. This way Samsung i..

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AT&T and Sprint will roll out Note7-killing update early next year

All major US carriers have revealed exactly when they will roll out the last update to Samsung Galaxy Note7 units on their network. To begin with, T-Mobile will push out the update after Christmas, on December 27.
On the other hand, AT&T and Sprint will roll out the update early next year – January 5 and January 8, respectively.
Verizon, as you might already know, has made it clear that it"s not participating in the roll-out of this update. The carrier explained the reason behind its decision in a detailed statement which you can read here.
To quickly refresh, unlike previous updates that capped the battery charge to certain levels, this new update won"t allow the phone to charge at all, effectively making it useless.
Source 1 2

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Galaxy Note7 units still in use in Australia will be disconnected from the mobile networks on December 15

Last month Samsung went further than ever in trying to ensure that all Galaxy Note7 units sold in New Zealand are returned following its discontinuation of the device. Working with the carriers over there, the company has basically shut down mobile network access for those Note7 handsets still in the wild. This move has apparently proved successful, since Samsung is now getting ready to do the exact same thing in neighboring Australia.
Starting on December 15, if you have a Note7 in Australia you won"t be able to use it on any of the mobile networks over there. It will essentially be cut off from the mobile infrastructure, meaning it will only connect to Wi-Fi networks from that point on. Samsung clearly hopes that this will finally convince the “small number” of holdouts to return their devices. After all, these are the people who can live with their phones only charging up to 60%.
Samsung"s even throwing in $250 in “a specific partner offer” that hasn"t been detailed..

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New Samsung Galaxy Note5 update brings Note7"s Grace UX

Samsung has started rolling out a new update to its Galaxy Note5 smartphone from last year. The update, among other changes, brings the Grace user interface, which made its debut on the ill-fated Galaxy Note7, and will probably also arrive on the S7 series with the Nougat update .
Currently, only South Korean Galaxy Note5 units that are on the Korea Telecom"s network are getting the update, which arrives as firmware version KKU2CPI1, and is based on Android Marshmallow version 6.0.1.
As is usually the case with OTA rollouts, it may take time for the update to hit your device. Meanwhile, if you feel impatient, you can manually check for the update by heading to your handset"s Settings menu.
Source | Via

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Samsung France giving Note7 customers 128GB microSD and chance to win VR Park experience

Samsung"s Vice-President of Samsung Electronics France has written a letter to all its customers in that were affected by the Galaxy Note7 recall / debacle / discontinuation situation. For their troubles, and to show its appreciation for its customers, Samsung France is giving these customers a free 128GB microSD card and a chance to win one of 1,000 free trip packages to Samsung’s Life Changer Park
Samsung’s VR theme park was a result of partnering with local theme parks to collaborate on attractions that incorporate Samsung’s Gear VR into the experience. Winners are also allowed to bring a guest for a day of fun on Tuesday December 20 or 27.
Letter to Note7 customers.
SamMobile shared a copy of the letter which also mentions a €100 rebate if the affected customer would like to get a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge in place of the Note7. In the case of the US, Samsung was gracious enough to let customers keep the free promotional gifts like the free year of Netflix, or Samsung’s newest f..

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