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CPSC issues second Galaxy Note 7 recall — 23 new fires involving replacement Notes
It’s official — two days after Samsung canceled the phone, it’s been recalled (again) in the United States.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a second recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, affecting both old and new replacement models. Significantly, the CPSC statement now tells us exactly how many battery fire reports have been reported in the new Note 7 with the green battery icon.
From the CPSC statement (emphasis ours):
Samsung has received 96 reports of batteries in Note7 phones overheating in the U.S., including 23 new reports since the September 15 recall announcement. Samsung has received 13 reports of burns and 47 reports of property damage associated with Note7 phones.
In line with Samsung’s guidance, the CPSC says customers should immediately power off their phones and return them for a refund or a (different) replacement device. While Samsung had already canceled the Note 7, the official recall of replacement Notes is an important legal step — for instance, it’s illegal to sell a recalled product, and one may not be taken aboard an airplane in the U.S. at all, in any capacity.
It’s the latest development in a what’s been a dire couple of months for Samsung, with the Note 7 fiasco damaging its brand, eroding consumer trust and knocking billions off its market value. If you’ve still got a Note 7, return it and get one of these great Android phones instead.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
- Do not buy a Galaxy Note 7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
Samsung offers $100 credit to swap your Note 7 for another Galaxy phone
Only $25 credit if you’re changing brands.
With the brand damage caused by not one but two recalls, Samsung is offering incentives to Note 7 customers in the U.S. to keep them loyal to the Samsung brand. Anyone with the now canceled phone can claim $100 bill credit if they choose another Samsung smartphone, compared to just $25 if they choose another brand or a refund.
The new exchange program in the U.S. begins October 13 at 3 p.m. EDT. If you’ve already returned your Note 7 for a Samsung phone and taken the $25 bill credit offered at the time, you’ll be able to claim an additional $75 from your carrier or retailer.
As before, Samsung says it’ll use several methods to reach out to Note 7 owners and have them return their phones — so expect push notifications, text messages, and eventually even software updates which will nerf your maximum battery capacity. We saw all of this stuff first time around.
Working in partnership with the CPSC, carriers and retailers, Samsung is maximizing its reach to Note7 owners through multiple touchpoints, including direct communications, customer service, social media, marketing and in-store communications, to ensure users are aware of the program, understand their options and participate in the U.S. Note7 Exchange Program.
Samsung’s U.S. president and COO, Tim Baxter, also offered a message of apology to Note 7 customers: “We appreciate the patience of our consumers, carrier and retail partners for carrying the burden during these challenging times,” he’s quoted as saying in Samsung’s press release. “We are committed to doing everything we can to make this right.”
MORE: How to return your Galaxy Note 7
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
- Do not buy a Galaxy Note 7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
Dali Katch review: Audio artistry meets ‘tache-twiddling design
The word Dali will probably see your mind either wander to the ‘tache-twiddling famed Spanish artist, or to a certain Danish audio manufacturer known for its great quality speakers. The Dali Katch isn’t necessarily a piece of art to be hung in a gallery, but this Bluetooth speaker does deliver audio artistry at a portable scale. Is it a genuine catch given its £330 cover price?
Dali Katch review: Design
There are all manner of Bluetooth speakers on the market, ranging from the ultra budget to pricier models such as this Dali. At over £300 it’s fair to say you should be expecting something special.
Pocket-lint
So when we first pulled the Katch from its box we had mixed emotions: the giant pill-shaped body is fronted by plasticky-looking mesh panels, but matched with a solid aluminium body. The mesh is actually a combination of polycarbonate an ABS (a thermoplastic polymer), but it just looks like plastic – which is all you need to know. The aluminium exudes a greater quality because of its exposed chamfered edge, adding lift to the shadowy blue finish of this review sample (grey and green choices are also available – but all are muted rather than snappy colours).
That brown edging to one side of the pill? It’s actually an integrated leather carry strap, which can slide out of its stowed position to form a handle, in a fashion reminiscent of many B&O BeoPlay devices Again, however, the choice of finish doesn’t look much like leather; again it initially looks like more plastic – until you pull it away from the body. A different texture would have been better to highlight the material quality.
To one side of the Katch there are an array of buttons: on/off, Bluetooth pairing, volume up and down, and an EQ preset. These days most manufacturers are opting for sparse design minus such old skool buttons, so while these classic buttons are fine by their function, the “hidden away” style of those found in the B&O BeoPlay A1 make for a more refined overall appearance.
Pocket-lint
So, on balance, the Dali Katch doesn’t really look like a more-than-£300 speaker. Not on the outside at least…
Dali Katch review: Sound quality
Switch it on, however, and Dali’s audio knowledge comes to light. The Katch sounds solid from the off: a great delivery of bass, with balanced mids and treble. That’s perhaps no surprise given the twin aluminium woofers and 21mm tweeters aboard, expertly crafted as you would expect.
That EQ button even functions to toggle between two pre-sets to cater for different environments depending on how close the product is to a wall (one is baser than the other, effectively). However, there’s no app to make more of this EQ: we would like more presets, or the ability to tweak these presets accordingly.
Pocket-lint
The Katch is also really loud. It could be the only speaker that you’ll ever need to fill a room. And given its portability, it’s no hassle to cart it from one room to another. So while the exterior might leave you wanting more, the audio quality really doesn’t.
We’ve had no issues with Bluetooth connectivity – which even caters for aptX high-quality streams – or you can go old skool and plug in devices via the 3.5mm adapter – which is tucked away behind a panel to one end of the device.
The Katch’s on-board battery lasts for an alleged 24-hours of non-stop use. We’ve been using it non-stop for three office days and it’s still not given any hint that it might run out of juice just yet, which is pretty good going by any speaker standard.
Pocket-lint
Should you run out of juice then two forms of charging are possible: via the exposed mains charger (which comes with an annoyingly over-sized plug socket) or via the full-size USB port, which also means on-the-go charging is possible if you have the right cable (that one’s not included). The USB port can also be used to drive a Chromecast Audio dongle for connection to a home network, which is a nifty little feature that brings the Katch into the modern world.
Verdict
The Dali Katch is a tale of two halves: its exterior aesthetic has some not-so-hot moments, while its audio artistry is second-to none. The battery life is standout for a portable Bluetooth speaker too.
However, at £330 Dali is pushing faith that its premium brand name will drive purchase, because for £130 less you could buy the smaller, better looking and just as decent B&O BeoPlay A1 instead.
As it stands, we find the visual exterior of the Katch has us ‘tache-twiddling like a certain other Dali because it’s simply surreal that it doesn’t look better. The score reflects this rather than the abundant audio quality.
US couriers issue strict guidelines for returning your Galaxy Note 7
If you can’t walk into your carrier’s store to turn in a Galaxy Note 7 in person, you’ll have to ask them for Samsung’s fire-proof box and wait for it to come in. FedEx and UPS have announced that they won’t ship out the phone unless it’s inside one of the special containers Samsung has prepared for it. This container is actually comprised of several boxes you’ll have to stack like a Russian doll, though the outermost one is lined with ceramic fiber designed to keep potential fires under control. Meanwhile, the US Postal Service will accept your shipment, so long as it’s inside hard cardboard or plastic boxes.
While it could be a hassle having to wait for the insulated box to arrive, it’s still a step up from the couriers’ previous stance: they originally refused to ship the plus-sized phones back to carriers altogether. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for our friends in the UK. The Royal Mail has banned sending the devices entirely, suggesting that Note 7 owners get in contact with the retailer that sold them the phone in the first place.
Take ‘note’ that you might have to wait a while before the phone gets to your phone carrier, since Note 7s are not allowed on planes anymore. To comply with the Department of Transportation’s rule that prohibits recalled products with lithium-ion batteries on planes, the devices are now only eligible for ground shipping.
Samsung’s earnings for July to September weren’t affected by its Note 7 problems, but things likely won’t be the same the next quarters. After it decided to stop making the phones completely, the chaebol adjusted its profit guidance to expect a $2.34 billion loss for the current quarter. Analysts also believe that the conglomerate will end up spending around $1 billion to make and ship out the insulated recall boxes. While Samsung’s growing display and chip business could make up for those losses, the future of its extra-large phone line is now up in the air.
Source: Bloomberg, Fox6Now, The Washington Post
Samsung offers Note 7 owners $100 off another Galaxy phone
In an attempt to keep users, Samsung is issuing a $100 credit to exchange the defective Galaxy Note 7 for a Galaxy S7 Edge or other Samsung device. By comparison, it’ll give you just $25 if you switch to Apple, HTC or any other brand. It has also expanded the recall to include all Galaxy Note 7 devices, including those issued as replacements for the original defective phones. That move was expected, since both have proved to have defective batteries that can cause fires and explosions.
Following the initial recall of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung issued refunds or replacement devices to consumers, along with a $25 credit. However, the new phones also had problems and caused incidences like a fire on a Southwest Airlines flight. The company has now killed the phone altogether, and advised buyers to shut it off immediately.
Samsung is trying to keep users from straying to other brands, while also trying to stop further financial bleeding from the debacle. In a post, it said that the incentives are to compensate customers for the “big inconvenience” of exchanging the device. That’s an understatement, because customers have been forced to handle devices with gloves and return them in a fireproof box. Then, they must wait a considerable period for the replacements, which can only be shipped by ground.
The best option might be to avoid the exchange and get a full refund. Buyers likely paid full price for the Galaxy Note 7, which was just released. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, on the other hand, have been out for six months, and can be found at a considerable discount. For many users, the difference likely amounts to more than the $100 exchange incentive.
Source: Samsung
Google Photos will animate your videos too
The latest AI-powered upgrade for Google Photos brings four tricks. In a blog post today, we learned about four new features for the service, including the simplest one, which autodetects sideways pictures and prompts you to correct them. Two others dig into its talent for facial recognition, as it will detect people in your new photos, and offer to “rediscover old memories” of those same people in older pics, or, it can pop up a highlight reel showcasing the best pictures of a frequent subject.
Finally, the Assistant could already animate series of similar photographs, but now it’s ready to loop up repeating segments from videos too. You should see the new features available on Android, iOS and the web, and if it’s just a little too creepy, you can go into settings to disable face grouping or its assistant prompts.
Source: Google Blog
Space rocks form more craters on the moon than we expected
We might see the moon every night, but we still don’t know everything about our planet’s faithful companion. For instance, a team of Arizona State University astronomers have discovered that it has around 33 percent more craters than scientists predicted. The team compared 14,000 before-and-after photos of the same sites taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in different periods of time and found 222 craters over 33 feet wide that they didn’t expect. They also found 47,000 new splotches, which are splatter-like stains on the satellite’s surface.
Since space rocks crash into the moon more often than we thought, it means that lunar soil also gets kicked up more often. Based on their observation, the researchers now believe that the first inch of the moon’s surface changes every 80,000 years, not every million years. This could impact how we date samples taken from the satellite and could change the plans of anyone who wants to mine resources from the rock in the future. Team leader Emerson Speyerer said, however, that if ever you get the chance to fly to the moon someday, you don’t have to worry about getting crashed to death by a meteorite:
“If you are an astronaut sitting on the surface, you don’t necessarily have to worry about being directly hit by a meteorite, but you would have to worry about all these secondaries (lunar dust and rock getting kicked up after impact), that are coming from kilometres and kilometres away.”
Via: New Scientist
Source: Nature
A smart and simple 3-port charger from UNITEK is a great value at just $8
I use quite a few mobile gadgets. From the latest and most current smartphones, to Android Wear devices, through wireless headphones and speakers, my dependence on portable power is embarrassingly high. I review quite a few chargers mainly because there are quite a few differences between them all. Some of those differences are subtle, but others can mean the difference between charging your phone in an hour and four hours.
Quick Charge, Fast Charge, and countless other charging methods have all made themselves known in recent years for mobile devices. All of the different terminology is confusing, which is why we try our best to sort out the best for you. There’s a good chance you own multiple products that rely on mobile power too.
I’ve been using UNITEK’s 24W 3-Port USB Wall/Travel Charger from Amazon (with discount code 26FO38S4) and think it’s worthy of your $8.
Design and Build
UINTEK’s 3-port wall charger is made from plastic and metal, but is compact measuring in at just 2.7″L x 1.1″H x 2″W. It’s made with a foldable plug that makes it perfect for traveling or being the charger that you bring along on your study trips to coffee shops, or business trips across the country. The size is not much larger than some OEM chargers, but rather than only offering one USB port, it has three ports so you can charge as many devices at the same time.
There’s one smart Quick Charge 2.0 port that can charge compatible devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge from 0-50% in about thirty minutes. Most people only own one smartphone, and rather than give you three ports with QC 2.0, UNITEK opted to save you money and put in 2.4A USB ports for the remaining two slots.
2.4A is enough power to charge most devices at full speed, including the latest iOS devices which don’t use fast charging methods. Apple’s OEM charger costs double what this option from UNITEK does and only offers on third of the USB ports.
The QC 2.0 port is identifiable by the green colored USB slot and the QC 2.0 indicator. It’s the one on top and is the one you want to use with your compatible QC devices. You don’t need to worry about plugging in devices without QC, as the charger will automatically detect the power requirements and adjust accordingly.
Summary
Moving your one USB charger around the house to charge your smartphone or mobile accessories is a tired practice. So is bringing multiple chargers along on vacation or business trips. It’s easy to misplace your chargers that way or beat up on the cables. Multi-port charging blocks are extremely affordable and reliable. The latest 3-port QC 2.0 travel charger from UNITEK is reliable, well-built and affordable at just $7.99 with discount code 26FO38S4 at Amazon.com.
UNITEK 60W 6-Port USB Smart Charging Station (review)
First season of ‘Hitman’ ends on Halloween, in Japan
The first season of Hitman’s episodic experiment comes to a close on October 31st — no tricks. This final installment takes place in Hokkaido, Japan and according to publisher Square Enix, it’s “the culmination of everything players will have learnt in terms of both gameplay and story.” So hopefully you’ve been paying attention. The mission takes place in a remote compound replete with Zen gardens, an organic sushi restaurant (fingers crossed you can poison the shashimi) and a Japanese hot spring.
If you’re holding out for a physical version, that won’t be out until next January. Earlier this year, the publisher told Polygon that the reason for the gap was to ensure “we have enough time after the season concludes to dedicate to getting the best disc version of the game out.”
Source: Square Enix
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