The Note 7 clearly has been one of the best smartphones ever made. Perhaps that’s the reason that some still continue to hold on to the device notwithstanding the infamous battery issue that led to several of the handsets to burst into flames.
However, Samsung has now stated they are in the process of issuing an update that will make all Note 7 devices anywhere in the world to be rendered junk. The upcoming update that would be marked as mandatory will ensure the battery isn’t able to hold on to its charge, thereby forcing the owners to give up on the device.
While that can surely be considered a wise move to go for in view of the risk that Note 7 pose to its owners or their property, many are reported to have adopted means so that they aren’t affected by the update. That includes rooting the device to disable OTA update application packages before rolling back to an earlier software build.
Samsung had also issued updates late last year or early 2017 that sought to progressively reduce the charging capability of the Note 7 battery. The company had even tied up with US carriers to issues similar updates aimed at crippling the battery of the Note 7 devices. In effect, such Note 7 handsets would only be of use till they are plugged in.
The South Korean giant had earlier issued a recall, the magnitude of which the tech world perhaps has never a heard of. With over a million devices already sold when reports of the handset exploding started streaming in, it sure was one massive operation. However, around 97 percent of the devices are believed to have already been returned to Samsung.
That still makes around 30,000 of the Note 7 devices being out in the wild. And with it being declared a fire hazard, any incident involving the handset will no doubt serve to refresh people’s mind of the dangers posed by it. Samsung surely will like to wash its hands off it and move ahead, particularly when it is in the process of launching the S8 along with a successor to the Note 7 as well sometime later.
Maye Samsung will have to come up with something more enticing to lure existing Note 7 owners to forego their device in lieu of something safer, perhaps the S8 or the Note 7 successor. In other words, the Note 7 is one thing that Samsung will no doubt be eager to wash its hands off of. And that won’t be possible until all 100 percent of the handset is returned back to it.
