Has my Galaxy Note 7 been recalled?

How do I know if my Note 7 has been recalled?

When it comes to product recalls, there’s usually a process for finding out just which units have been recalled. In the case of the Galaxy Note 7 recall, Samsung has announced that every Note 7 has been recalled, removing any questions you may have had as to whether or not your phone is headed back to the manufacturer. The full statement, from Samsung:

In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue. To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7. For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.

We are working with our carrier partners to announce the details of the U.S. product exchange program as soon as today.
We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.

Details are currently emerging about just how you’ll go through the process of sending your phone back to Samsung and receiving a replacement, but right now you can at least know that if you bought a Note 7 it will be recalled. The only grey area here, it seems, may be Note 7s sold in China. Reports claim that due to a different battery supplier for phones that were sold in the country, those phones may not be recalled. Outside of that, expect to send your phone back when details are announced.

We’ll update this article with specific per-country recall details when we have them.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
• The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
• Here are all four Note 7 colors
• Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

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How your phone can help before and during a hurricane

Hurricane season is upon us, and your smartphone is now one of the most important tools in your preparedness kit.

You don’t want to be caught unawares when a hurricane hits, and as we’ve learned recently, they can arrive unexpectedly, and in unexpected places. There’s no better time than now to bone up on some of the best ways to keep current on what’s out there, and how to stay safe if a storm comes your way.

And just like with everything else, our smartphones now play an integral part with that.

I’ve lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life. I’ve been through storms. God willing, I’ll never go through another. But either way, I’ll be ready. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can be, too.

Websites and apps

If you only use one website for tracking tropical activity, it needs to be the National Hurricane Center’s site, found at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov. (They’ve got a mobile version, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

I also recommend Weather Underground’s site, too, and the blog written by Jeff Masters.

What about apps, though? I’ve used a few over the years. Mostly they’re wrappers for the NHC website, and for the most part the apps themselves are pretty crap. And you don’t really need them. They can, however, be good for notifications of new updates, which the NHC puts out every six hours. If you don’t want to spend a few bucks, you could just hit up the NHC site, or follow their Twitter feed, or use RSS or e-mail. (The NHC has a lot of ways to stay informed.)

The one app I’ve used off and on during hurricane season is SeaStorm Hurricane Tracker, which costs $1.99. Even then, I only really use it for the alerts.

And if you just don’t want to bother committing all of these tips to memory, go for the America Red Cross’ hurricane app.

More: The best weather apps for Android

Your phone

There’s almost nothing worse than knowing a hurricane is headed your way. They’re big. They’re often slow. You could have days or even weeks of warning. That gives you plenty of time to prepare. And our phones make it easier than ever.

A few tips I’ve picked up the hard way:

Inventory your home and car. Use notes apps that sync to the cloud (that’s the really important part) to keep track of everything you own, for insurance purposes. If it’s not documented, it might as well have never existed.
Take pictures. Lots of pictures. The outside of your home. The inside of your home. Pets. Kids. Anything of value. Insurance fraud, unfortunately, is a thing. You’ll want to prove your car didn’t already have that tree on it. Again, make sure your pictures are uploaded to a cloud service like Google Photos or Dropbox.
Charge early and often. When the power goes out, it goes out.
That said, data could well be down after a strong storm. (Though operators will be quick to tell you they’ve been hardening against storms.) If that’s the case enjoy the silence, and don’t waste battery if you don’t have to.

Speaking of charging …

Batteries are our lifeblood. I mean, our phones’ lifeblood. If you want any hope of communicating after a storm, or keeping up with folks during a storm, you’ll need to stay charged. The good news is that even if you don’t (or can’t) use a full-blown generator, we’ve got options.

We’ve seen an explosion (figuratively, that is) of small and inexpensive external batteries. This very much changes the game for post-storm charging. You should have a few on hand. We’re fans of this 20,000 mAh battery from Anker. USB-A and USB-C, so it’ll charge pretty much everything. (And, yes, it’s on that “good” list for USB-C.)

A good bit more expensive, and maybe a little crazy (in a good way) is the Anker PowerHouse — a 434Wh (that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 120,000 mAh) gianormous AC or solar-powered backup battery/inverter.

Unfortunately for most of us, it’s still a little early for this future-tech solution.

Other random things worth buying

Batteries are obvious. So are lamps of some sort. And food that doesn’t spoil.

I also recommend picking up a sun shower of come sort. These are large PVC bags that use the sun to heat the water within, and gravity to rain it down upon your body. I used them on boats growing up, but they’re perfect for post-storm showers. You don’t need electricity to heat the water, they’re portable, and they’re easy to store.

This one looks just fine — but you’ve basically got your pick on Amazon. If you’re buying locally, any sporting goods store or boat store should have them in stock.

I’d also recommend picking up a battery-powered AM/FM Weather radio. Again, you need to conserve things like your phone for when you really need them. These ancient little radios run on batteries and will keep you up with important local info as well with NOAA weather radio. They’re indispensable once the power goes out. (It’s what us old people had before Twitter, and with less trolling.)

Be safe out there.

Sony Xperia Projector concept will let you play Candy Crush on the kitchen table

Sony announced a few concepts at Mobile World Congress in March, including the Xperia Eye, Xperia Agent and the Xperia Projector. The idea behind each was revealed at the show but it wasn’t possible to play with any of them or see them in action.

Things have moved on a little now though, and while there was no extra information on the Xperia Eye, Sony did talk a little more about the Xperia Agent and the Xperia Projector at consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin.

Both are still very much concepts, but the Xperia Projector was up and running on Sony’s stand, showing off some of what it will be able to do whenever it eventually launches.

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The idea behind the Projector is to stimulate communication through an interactive interface that is projected on a clear surface. When Sony first announced the concept, it said it would respond to touch, voice and gestures.

The Xperia Projector itself is a smallish box that looks a little like a NAS drive. It is subtle enough to blend in with most home decors and it has features a nice, premium looking finish consisting of black plastic and a metal grill. It isn’t clear whether this is the final design or not, but if it is, it looks good.

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Based on what we saw at the show, the Xperia Projector is able to project the interface onto a table, or a wall above it. It is compatible with Google Play so not only will you be able to do online shopping, you’ll also be able to play Candy Crush on the kitchen table. Yep that’s right, you can crush those sweeties, or play another one of your favourite apps from Google Play. Exciting stuff.

We played Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds on the Sony stand at IFA and it was super fun. Probably the most fun we had at the show in fact. The response time was good and the projection was clear too.

Sony has not detailed when the Xperia Projector will be released properly, but we are hoping for Mobile World Congress 2017. We will be keeping our eyes and ears peeled for more details.

Michael Kors Access: Super sexy smartwatches

Fashion brand Michael Kors is about to launch its Access Android Wear smartwatches into stores. The devices were first announced at Baselworld 2016, alongside several other smartwatches from various other Fossil brands, but there were no working samples on the stand.

There were working devices of the fashionable Android Wear smartwatches at consumer electronics show IFA however, just in time for us to see them in action before they arrives on 6 September and they are definitely something to get excited about.

The smaller Michael Kors Access smartwatch looks every bit like the company’s distinguishable Bradshaw watch, while the larger option takes its design cues from the company’s Dylan watch. Regarding the smaller model, its casing is a little thicker than the traditional Bradshaw in order to house the technology inside but the overall look is every bit as Michael Kors as its fans could hope for.

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It has a lovely, chunky, premium finish that has a good, reassuring weight to it and it’s really lovely. The signature MK-etched crown is present on the right-hand side of the touchscreen face, while a linked bracelet is fastened with a Michael Kors-branded clasp. The case is available in gold, silver, rose gold or navy blue.

The larger Michael Kors Access watch is a little more masculine, with a slightly chunkier design and a wider bezel surrounding the face. Again, it is thicker than the traditional Dylan model but it too offers a well-built design with an MK-etched crown that looks great. Rather than a clasp fastening, the larger device comes with a silicone strap as standard, fastened with a buckle, and overall it has a slightly sportier look. There is the option of a silver, black or gold casing.

You’ll get one strap as standard with the Access watches but there will be plenty of extra straps available to buy, allowing you to interchange them as you want to, switching between linked, silicone, leather, etc. According to Fossil, between the straps and the watch faces, there are 27 million ways to customise your smartwatch, including special Michael Kors face options.

Fashion is at the forefront of these watches, with technology following behind. This is evident in the way the Access watches not only look but how they feels when on. They might be smartwatches, but they look like watches and ones that you could wear with whatever you want to, given the customisation options available.

The Access smartwatches run on the Android Wear platform, which is compatible with both Android and iOS devices and they offer the same features as other Android Wear devices. This means the Access watch will deliver smartphone notifications directly to your wrist, whether that’s emails, WhatsApp, text messages, or whatever other alerts you want to receive.

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There is a microphone and speaker on board the Access watches so you can have a phone conversation through your wrist, without needing to get your smartphone out of your bag or pocket, and this also allows for voice control. Additionally, the Access offers multiple timezones, automatic updating of the timezone and activity tracking.

Like the Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch, the Michael Kors models also have a black bar at the bottom of the display, creating a flat tyre look. We haven’t been a great fan of this in the past, but the build quality of the MK options does help  us focus less on it.

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As with every other Android Wear device, users will need to pair their Michael Kors Access watch to the Android Wear app. In the case of these watches, there is a dedicated Michael Kors Android Wear app. From here, you’ll be able to customise your watch to how you want it, including scheduling faces to change based on whether it is daytime or evening, for example. We didn’t get a chance to play with the app, but we will look at it in more detail when we come ti review the Access. 

As we mentioned, the Michael Kors Access Android Wear smartwatches will go on sale from 6 September. They will cost £295 each and additional straps will be available for around £40 each. They aren’t the cheapest out there, but for those that want a stylish, fashionable smartwatch, the Access is one smartwatch not to ignore.

Insta360 Air 360 camera brings wraparound video to Android phones

The company behind the Insta360 range of 360-degree cameras for iPhone has announced a dedicated Android version at IFA in Berlin, Germany.

Following on from the already available Insta360 nano for the iPhone, the company will offer the new camera specifically for Android users. It will be called the Insta360 Air for Android. 

Companies, like Arashi Vision and Ricoh, have been rushing to create 360 degree cameras following the huge appetite in VR and Facebook’s move to offer 360 photos and video directly on people’s Facebook feed. 

The new Air for Android camera will be available in November, and come with the same 1080p camera sensor as the Insta360 nano that is designed specifically for the iPhone 6 and 6s range of iPhones. It will however lose the in-built battery pack meaning users won’t be able to use the camera without a phone. 

Instead the camera will connect to your Android smartphone via the Micro USB charging port drawing power from the phone when in use.

The move means it can’t be used on its own like the nano however does mean the camera will be considerably cheaper. 

A company spokesman has confirmed that there is also likely to be a USB Type C version for Android handsets like the Nexus 6P. 

The Insta360 Air for Android will come with a dedicated Android app and be available in November. It is expected to cost less than the £200 Nano model.