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T-Mobile Is Killing the Remaining Galaxy Note7 Units Today (gsmarena.com) 109

Samsung may only be in the planning stages for its Note7-disabling update in South Korea, but over in the U.S. 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. From a report: 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.
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T-Mobile Is Killing the Remaining Galaxy Note7 Units Today

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  • by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2016 @04:07PM (#53561973)
    "... and nothing of value was lost."
    • by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2016 @04:13PM (#53562009)

      "... and nothing of Note was lost."

      There. :-)

    • Do I detect a flash mob of bitter Apple groupies?

      • No, I actually like my Samsung Galaxy S7. It's not perfect, but it's a better phone than the iPhone. It's waterproof and takes SDHC memory cards. My biggest complaint is they removed the infrared transmitter, so I can't use it to change the channel on the TVs in sports bars anymore. The other complaint is it's frickin' slippery, so a rubberized case for gripping it is pretty much a necessity. It also fits in my pocket, unlike an iPhone 6 or a Note.
  • I'm curious about how you would block something like this, in the general case.

    I'm not suggesting anyone use a phone that might explode instead of handing it in for a refund. But in the broad case, what are the defenses that you have in a case similar to this, where you might have great reasons to prevent such an update?

    This sounds like it is being pushed out as a carrier update. On an iPhone, I can defer those as I can all updates. I suspect the same is true on an Android. Eventually, of course (or imm

    • I'm curious about how you would block something like this

      Set your phone on fire and burn your house down now before the update renders that highly desirable feature unusable?

    • How do you block it? Root the phone and remove all the samsung software. Then pull the sim chip. The honest truth is T-mobile doesnt want any on its network. So remove it from the network. Then if it explodes you are liable.

    • You would basically need to make the phone unusable to prevent someone else from making the phone unusable. Fill the storage so there's nowhere to download the update. Turn it off and leave it off. Etc.

      I have no idea if the carrier would invoke the next logical step, which would be to blacklist the IMEI of any known Note 7, causing the device to become a uselessly small wifi tablet. In that case, there's nothing you can do.

  • Opps, not that galaxy.
  • DO set the firmware to disallow charging beyond a known-safe level and/or slow down the charging rate to a slow, known-safe speed.

    DO throw up the "this device has been recalled" alert every time the user wakes the machine up.

    If you must, disable non-emergency calling and throttle the bluetooth and WiFi to painfully slow speeds to encourage people to stop using the device.

    But don't set it to brick when the power runs out.

    Why not?

    If Aunt Jane or Uncle Bill lost his phone the day before the recall was announce

    • DO set the firmware to disallow charging beyond a known-safe level and/or slow down the charging rate to a slow, known-safe speed.

      Note that there's no known safe charging rate or battery capacity. The Note 7 is a fire risk at all times.

    • DO set the firmware to disallow charging beyond a known-safe level and/or slow down the charging rate to a slow, known-safe speed.

      DO throw up the "this device has been recalled" alert every time the user wakes the machine up.

      If you must, disable non-emergency calling and throttle the bluetooth and WiFi to painfully slow speeds to encourage people to stop using the device.

      But don't set it to brick when the power runs out.

      Why not?

      If Aunt Jane or Uncle Bill lost his phone the day before the recall was announced, when he finds it he'll need to be able to plug it in and get his photos off of it.

      I'd hope that it still works without charging the battery, so you can get data off if connected to the charger. But phones are always a bit special in that regard :(

    • DO set the firmware to disallow charging beyond a known-safe level and/or slow down the charging rate to a slow, known-safe speed.

      There was no such thing as was shown with the first and second update they rolled out.

      If you must, disable non-emergency calling and throttle the bluetooth and WiFi to painfully slow speeds to encourage people to stop using the device.

      Or just disable the IMEI. Phone calls are dime a dozend, and pretty much anyone is capable of calling emergencies in multiple ways at any given time.

      Why not?

      If Aunt Jane or Uncle Bill lost his phone the day before the recall was announced, when he finds it he'll need to be able to plug it in and get his photos off of it.

      If your special relatives did this they can still charge and power it up and download the photos off the device as it will have run out of battery and as such not received the update. Not that I suspect that people who lose a recalled hazardous device in their house that is st

    • Because when someone loses an $800+ device, they just throw up their hands and say "oh well, I'll look for it in three months, I can't be bothered right now." Are Aunt Jane and Uncle Bill going on an expedition into the Congo? Searching for the true source of the Nile?

      Recall announced: early October.
      Today: late December.

      Your scenario is such an edge case that it's falling over the edge.

  • It's going out in a blaze of glory.

  • Samsung is a company on fire. It will arise from its own ashes to deliver further explosive products that will no doubt re-kindle public interest. It is safe to say that people will soon have a burning desire to purchase those products.
  • The update will prevent the handset for charging [...]

    In other words, the proprietor always had this capability (and, no doubt, other things indicating true control over what this computer will do). So even if you think you'd like to retain the hardware and fix it, give or sell such services to others (including devices where this update may have already been applied), or even work with others to make fixes and publish the results so as to let others alter (what they believed was) their device, you are in f

    • your plan is being undermined by those who truly own the device

      Welcome to the world we were warned about.

  • by Patent Lover ( 779809 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2016 @09:11PM (#53563665)
    I just keep mine in airplane mode.
  • ...on our seismometer. It caused a strong event, but with an very undefined epicentre. I guess that many Galaxy 7 owner could no more read the notification message on the screen.

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