Samsung Temporarily Halts Note 7 Production

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday that Samsung Electronics has temporarily stopped production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. The company suspended production following reports of overheating of the replacements for the fire-prone phones.

Yonhap said Samsung took the exceptional measure for the sake of consumer safety, quoting an unnamed official at one of the electronic giant’s supplier.

The effort follows pronouncements by US carriers T-Mobile and AT&T to halt the distribution of new Note 7 smartphones to customers to exchange erstwhile models while replacement devices are being investigated.

Samsung did not respond to requests for confirmation on the news agency’s report.

The Note 7 recall is Samsung’s biggest crisis in years and is the company’s first and only smartphone recall to date.

Samsung pronounced on September 2 a global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s because of the phones catching fire due to defective batteries. However, similar problems occurred when a replacement Note 7 began smoking inside a Southwest Airline flight in the US on October 5.

The device was a Galaxy Note 7 picked up by passenger Bryan Green from an accredited AT&T store on September 21 as a replacement for his old Note 7 that he returned when the global recall was announced.

Airport officials and major airlines advised passengers not to use the phone on board.

Singapore Airlines banned the charging and powering up of Note 7 phones on all its flights.

Hong Kong International Airport also strongly advised passengers not to put the phones in checked baggage and to stop using or charging Note 7s on aircraft.

AT&T Inc announced that it would discontinue dispensing replacement Note 7s as Mobile carriers also took action on Monday. It would instead let customers with a recalled Note 7 swap their device for another Samsung smartphone model or any other smartphone of their choice.

Replacement and sales of Note 7 discontinued

While Samsung is investigating “multiple reports of issues” with its top-of-the-line device, T-Mobile US Inc said it was temporarily suspending replacement and sales of new Note 7s.

In addition, the no. 3 wireless carrier offered their customers who brought in their Note 7s a $25 credit on their phone bill.

Meanwhile, Telstra Corp, Australia’s largest carrier, said that Samsung had halted the supply of new Note7s, while fellow Australian carriers Vodafone and Optus acknowledged that they had stopped distributing new Note 7s.

Samsung said it was investigating reports of “heat damage issues” and would act immediately to remedy any problems in accordance with measures accepted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission had no further information on Friday as it is still investigating the incident.

The post Samsung Temporarily Halts Note 7 Production appeared first on Newsline.

Google Goes Head-To-Head With Apple and Amazon With New Hardware

Google announced on Tuesday a new Pixel smartphone, a smart speaker for the living room called “Home”. A slew of new consumer electronics products for the home were also available.

The announcement is a clear indication that the company plans to contend head on with Apple, Amazon, and even manufacturers of phones using its own Android operating system.

Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said that if they can work on hardware and software together, they could innovate much better. This is very much like Apple’s established philosophy of tighter integration between hardware and software.

Google designed and developed the Pixel phones from the beginning, unlike previous efforts under the Nexus brand. However, they awarded the manufacturing contract to HTC Corporation of Taiwan.

Echoing another of Apple’s strategy, Google said it would operate exclusively with a single carrier in the United States. The Pixel will launch under Verizon Communications much like Apple’s deal with AT&T when the original iPhone launched. The agreement gave Apple unmatched influence over the look of the phone and how it worked.

The phone comes in two sizes and, according to industry analyst Patrick Moorehead, aside from the high-end camera, the Pixels are very similar to Samsung and iPhone seventh generation phones.

Analysts added that Google’s new phones obviously intended to compete with the iPhone, though promoting its own hardware would likely confound its relationship with Android licensees such as Samsung and LG.

Google’s voice activated AI system

Google opened the event Tuesday by flaunting the Google Assistant. The company’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri is a voice-activated artificial intelligence system. It can make a restaurant reservation with just a few phrases spoken into the phone. The presenter demonstrated this feature during the event.

The assistant is being positioned as the focal element in a line of integrated hardware and software products. It will be embedded into the Pixel and Home products.

The “Home” speaker system is very much comparable to Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo home speaker system, likely having many similar features.

Meanwhile, Google’s Daydream View virtual reality headset sets the company against Facebook’s Oculus. The device, which will be available in November for $79, is far cheaper and simpler.

Home will also be available in November for $129.

Other products unveiled during the event included a new version of Google’s Chromecast digital media player and a wifi router called Google Wifi.

The post Google Goes Head-To-Head With Apple and Amazon With New Hardware appeared first on Newsline.