Samsung asks global partners and to stop Galaxy Note7 sales and replacements

Updated on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 9:35AM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. We've not even had a chance to review this flagship handset but have already published multiple posts regarding various dangerous fires and explosions due to faulty batteries. Even as the company tried to get in front of the issue and kicked off a global replacement program. Well, after some of the replacement units started exploding it seems that the issue is bigger than many thought.

Samsung has just issued a statement asking all global partners to stop sales of replacement Galaxy Note7 units and has also asked all, "Canadian consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device. Details of the remedies available for Note7 customers are detailed below."

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 explodes in hotel room causing fire damage

Despite issuing a global recall last week, Samsung is still a hot topic because of its defective Galaxy Note 7 flagship. Reports of a Note 7 spontanously exploding in a hotel in Austrialia and causing US $1,400.00 worth of damage.

“My brand new Note7 exploded this morning while I was still asleep, it was plugged in and charging,” he said. “Phone completely fried, I can’t eject the SIM tray to retrieved [sic] my SIM or the SD card. I was using original charger and cable if you are wondering. Charred the hotel room bed sheet and the carpet when I whacked it down to the floor, burnt one of my finger [sic] while doing that too.”

Credit to Samsung, they gave the customer a loaner to replace his charred device and they apparently also covered all the damage done to the hotel room. 

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Alberta government releases app to survey Fort McMurray damage

Using technology in the service of the community, the Alberta government has released an app to help evacuees survey the damage of the wildfire at Fort McMurray that forced over 90,000 from their homes early May.

"Having been through a devastating fire and evacuation myself, I know firsthand how stressful it is to wait for updates on which homes have been lost. We are committed to providing information to you as soon as we can, and these images will help us begin to answer the questions you have about the state of your homes and community," said Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee.

Technical specialists have been working for several days to improve the quality and resolution of these images in order to provide you with the most accurate information possible. These maps are intended to provide a high-level satellite overview of the status of the city following the wildfires. Structures that appear to be standing should not be considered undamaged. These images should not be used for official damage assessments, determining the status of individual structures, or planning re-entry to the city. The app can be found  here.

Source: CBC.ca

Lenovo recalling 544,000 laptop power cords, fire and burn hazards cited

Lenovo has issued a recall of over half a million laptop power cords. Of these, 500,000 cords are from the U.S. and about 44,000 cords are estimated in  Canada. Model number or identifier is theLS-15 AC power cord, manufactured from February 2011 to December 2011.

These cords have the “LS-15″ molded mark on the AC adapter end, and have the manufacture date code in the format REV: 00 YYMM on an attached label. According to VentureBeat, "IdeaPad brand B-, G-, S-, U-, V-, and Z-series laptop computers and Lenovo brand B-, G-, and V-series laptop computers. A full list is available on this page."

Source: VentureBeat