Verizon will reportedly wait after the holidays to finally kill the Galaxy Note 7
Earlier this month Samsung announced
that it was going to issue an update to all US Galaxy Note 7 smartphones
that would prevent the devices from charging, effectively turning the troubled
handset into a brick. Shortly after Verizon took the controversial stance not
to follow through, explaining they would not be taking part in the update
because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 use
rs that haven't
yet switched despite Samsung’s best efforts to recall the device.
Indeed, many are
reportedly still clinging to their Galaxy Note 7 handset despite the risk of it
catching fire, and independent engineers pinning the blame on a faulty design —
meaning it’s not a faulty batch of batteries but all Note 7 handsets that are
at risk.
Today Verizon
has issued a follow up statement that they will issue the update after
all, just not on December 19 as Samsung originally intended. Instead the
company will wait until January 5. “We want to make sure you can contact
family, first responders, and emergency medical professionals during the
holiday travel season,” the company clarified.
Rival carriers
now appear to be taking holiday travels into consideration as well when
scheduling a roll-out date for the update. T-Mobile is waiting until December
27, AT&T will roll out the update on January 5, while Sprint expects to
kill the remaining Notes on its network on January 8.
The company has
already tried other methods of getting owners to hand over their Note 7s, with
updates that limit charging past 60 percent, and show a popup every time the
phone is turned on reminding people that the handset had been recalled.
Samsung also
turned the remaining Note 7s in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand into
expensive paperweights by disabling their cell and data services. If that
wasn’t enough, owners also found their Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities had
been removed. According to the company, 93 percent of recalled devices have
been returned since announcing the global recall in September.
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