To denote a phone that Samsung has deemed safe and free from the defect that occasionally caused batteries to explode, the company has changed the battery indicator in the status bar to green.
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A Chinese social media user posted messages on Sunday saying a friend’s Galaxy Note 7 caught fire over the weekend, and included photos of the damaged phone.
Just two weeks after Samsung launched its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the company issued a major recall following dozens of complaints the device caught on fire while charging.
Chinese airlines have asked passengers not to use or charge the Note 7 models during flights or carry them in their checked luggage, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.
According to the United States consumer protection authorities, around 1 million users in the USA are impacted by the recall, amid 92 reported incidences of the model catching fire.
Americans who own Samsung’s recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will finally be able to pick up a replacement on Wednesday.
The incidents could set back Samsung’s effort to stage a comeback in China, where it has slipped to No. 6 in a crowded market behind ambitious local brands, said Nicole Peng of research firm Canalys. The recall in China applies to telephones made between July 20 and August 5.
South Korea’s government has not issued an official recall like its counterparts in the US and Canada.
Customers of the nation’s three mobile carriers – SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp – began exchanging their Galaxy Note 7s for new ones at outlets across the country after receiving mobile notifications from the carriers, said the officials. Monday is the deadline for consumers in South Korea to get a full refund.
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Samsung said it expects to resume normal sales of new Galaxy Note 7 devices in South Korea starting September 28 after completing the replacements of approximately 400,000 units by the end of this month. The company that made the Chinese Note 7’s batteries, however, went on the record to say that the batteries might not have been the problem this time around.
