Samsung Issues Takedown On Video Of Grand Theft Auto 5 Mod Turning Galaxy Note 7 Into A Bomb

GTA 5, of course, is the video game Grand Theft Auto 5. And, like many video games, it's possible to mod (modify) those video games to add in other elements. And so it appears that someone took the "ripped from the headlines" stories of exploding Note 7s and created a GTA 5 mod that made such things into weapons you could use in the game.

The company is trying to erase it from the internet completely. Samsung has issued a DMCA takedown targeting a YouTube video that showcased the mod, which gives the Note 7 explosive, grenade-like capabilities. It was a pretty great way of poking fun at Samsung's ongoing PR crisis — and now the company is responding in a terrible way: ridiculous overreach and misuse of the DMCA tool.

In case you still don't get what's going on here, let's lay it out for you: there's a big story going on these days about how Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 devices are, well, catching fire (some prefer exploding, but it seems that they're mostly just setting themselves on fire). It's causing injuries and Samsung is in full on panic mode. It's now a felony to bring a Galaxy Note 7 on an airplane. This is the kind of stuff that business school case studies are written about years later, describing how Samsung handled this kind of crisis.

The Note-as-bomb mod, created by HitmanNiko, is clearly a parody of a rather unfortunate real world situation. He didn't copy anything. But that didn't stop Samsung from filing a bogus copyright claim. As a result, the video that we originally linked to earlier this month has been pulled from YouTube, and there's little mystery about the party responsible.

It's unclear whether the original uploader has appealed Samsung's request. Thankfully, other videos featuring the mod remain available for viewing, such as the one embedded below. Instead of pursuing YouTube users, Samsung should probably point those resources to customers affected by the dangerous product that's now been ushered into technology disaster history.




SOURCE: YouTube, Techdirt

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Samsung shut down production of the Galaxy Note 7 for good

Samsung has "permanently discontinued" production of the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung said that "taking our customer's safety as our highest priority, [so] we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7," according to the Associated Press. However, it bungled the recall from the beginning by trying to handle the situation internally, rather than getting help from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Given that, it might be hard for consumers to believe that it's concerned about their well-being. More likely, Samsung knows that the Galaxy Note 7's name is forever tarred by the fires, explosions and recalls.

If you're still stuck with a Galaxy Note 7, you should immediately power it down and not use it.
The exact number of phones on the market is unknown, but it had sold about 2.5 million when the first recall was issued.

Even though Galaxy Note 7 production has shut down and the phones should be on their way back to Samsung in fireproof boxes, the question of how everything went so wrong has yet to be answered. When it initiated a recall on September 2nd, the company said that "we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue." However, today when it announced a permanent end to manufacturing, there was no word on the problem. A report by the New York Times indicates that despite assigning "hundreds" of employees, they have not been able to reproduce the spontaneously smoky, blazing hot phones too many customers have experienced.


This video obtained by the Associated Press shows a woman in Honolulu with her Galaxy Note 7 as it began to smoke Sunday morning that sent owner to hospital with smoke inhalation. The initial recall focused on phones with batteries built by Samsung's SDI subsidiary and came alongside a software update to limit charging, but that has clearly not solved the problem. While some speculation has centered around USB-C cables or quick charging, there's still no indication of exactly what is wrong.

In an interview with the Times, Park Chul-wan, the former director of the Center for Advanced Batteries at the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, said that based on a review of regulatory documents and speaking to engineers "I think there was nothing wrong with them (batteries) or that they were not the main problem."

That news may be bittersweet for another company: TDK. The Financial Times writes that it was contracted to provide batteries for the replacement models, and the decision to scrap the devices entirely may put a hold on any suggestion that its batteries were to blame. In response to the NYT report, Samsung pointed to its earlier statement about cancelling production.

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Samsung sending out fireproof return kits for the Galaxy Note 7

Samsung has come up with what's supposed to be a safe solution: a return box that's capable of withstanding extreme heat.

XDA-Developers reports that Samsung has begun sending out the return kits to customers who have gotten in touch about returning their phone.

The return kit includes three boxes and a static shielding bag. The Note 7 is supposed to be slipped into the bag and then enclosed in box after box. It's the outermost box that's most interesting: it's lined with ceramic fiber paper, which is capable of handling extreme heat.

Samsung hasn't precisely detailed what the box is capable of withstanding, but presumably the box is meant to contain a Note 7 that catches fire in transit. Ceramic fiber is often used for insulating furnaces, so withholding a small fire doesn't seem out of the question.

The box also includes specific instructions to only transport it by ground and sea; it is "forbidden" from being taken on an aircraft. Gloves are included in the return kit as well, as Samsung says that some people may be irritated by directed contact with the ceramic fiber lining.


Samsung effectively initiated a worldwide recall of the Note 7 yesterday. It later ended production of new units of the phone.

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Samsung reportedly suspended Galaxy Note 7 production

After more reports of replacement Galaxy Note 7 phones catching fire, Yonhap News reports that Samsung has temporarily halted production. The Korean paper cited an anonymous source working at one of Samsung's suppliers, and the company has not yet commented. Already, AT&T and T-Mobile have said they will stop Galaxy Note 7 sales and replacements while investigations into the incidents continue.

Concern about the replacement models began with a model burning through the carpet on a Southwest flight and has not slowed since. Over the weekend, the additional reports came to light and may have left Samsung with no other option. It has been over a month since the Galaxy Note 7 recall began due to issues with its battery cell, and if the reports are confirmed we may be in line for a second recall. We have contacted Samsung, as well as the CPSC, and will update this post if there is a response.

  A Samsung Galaxy Note 7 replacement unit that caught fire in Virginia. [Shawn Minter via The Verge]


source: Yonhap News

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A replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone catches fire on Southwest Airlines flight 994

Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge.

More worrisome is the fact that the phone in question was a replacement Galaxy Note 7, one that was deemed to be safe by Samsung. The Verge spoke to Brian Green, owner of the Note 7, on the phone earlier today and he confirmed that he had picked up the new phone at an AT&T store on September 21st. A photograph of the box shows the black square symbol that indicates a replacement Note 7 and Green said it had a green battery icon.

Green said that he had powered down the phone as requested by the flight crew and put it in his pocket when it began smoking. He dropped it on the floor of the plane and a "thick grey-green angry smoke" was pouring out of the device. Green’s colleague went back onto the plane to retrieve some personal belongings and said that the phone had burned through the carpet and scorched the subfloor of the plane.

He said the phone was at around 80 percent of battery capacity when the incident occurred and that he only used a wireless charger since receiving the device.

Running the phone's IMEI (blurred for privacy reasons) through Samsung's recall eligibility checker returns a "Great News!" message saying that Green's Galaxy Note 7 is not affected by the recall.

Samsung is likely in full-fledged crisis mode at this point, as a replacement phone catching fire would be truly disastrous for the company's image and finances.

Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note7. We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause. Once we have examined the device we will have more information to share.

Green’s Note 7 is in the hands of the Louisville Fire Department’s arson unit for investigation and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission is opening an investigation into the incident. He has already replaced it with an iPhone 7.

source: The Verge

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Samsung has just announced that it has shipped 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices to US retailers and carriers

Samsung has just announced that it has shipped 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices to US retailers and carriers. They’ll be available beginning tomorrow to owners of the original, fire-hazard Note 7 for in-store exchanges. This first batch of replenishment stock is intended exclusively for exchanges and just 25 percent of Note 7s in US have been exchanged; Samsung hasn’t yet said when Note 7 retail sales will officially resume.

But it also makes clear that there are still a lot of potentially dangerous Note 7s out there. Safe replacement devices will display a green-colored battery in the phone’s taskbar — a clear indicator for concerned airline and mass transit employees to look for when examining the phone.

Hopefully that exchange rate will shoot up much quicker now that consumers can make a direct swap for Samsung’s latest batch of Note 7 shipments — assuming they still want one.

Samsung will also soon deliver updated firmware to all existing Note 7s with a new safety notice prompt urging owners to power down the device immediately. The prompt is a very polite way of saying “turn this thing off, you idiot” and will show up any time an at-risk Note 7 is powered on or plugged into a charger. Without any kind of kill switch to render the phones inoperable, this might be the best Samsung can do for now.

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The replacement for Samsung Note 7 devices are with a blue S on the box

Buyers of the original Note 7 should be able to exchange the device for a replacement model wherever it was originally purchased. Following the recall, mobile carriers have also offered full refunds on the Note 7 and waived all restocking fees. In most cases, customers also have the option of trading it for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge and being credited the difference in cost 

Samsung is nearly ready to begin shipping a new batch of Galaxy Note 7 devices that don't suffer from the "isolated battery cell issues" that led to a worldwide recall just one week ago

When the replacements are received by customers and retailers over the next couple weeks, the Note 7 box will be clearly marked to indicate that the battery inside is safe. You'll see a small black box on the white barcode label, but the more obvious identifier will be a circular sticker with a blue S in the middle. It'll look something like this:

That'll make it easier to distinguish which Note 7s don't pose a risk when you're looking at the packaging, but what if you've only got the phone itself? Samsung isn't making any changes to the Note 7's physical design. Instead, it'll be launching an IMEI database tool next week where consumers can type in their phone's unique IMEI number and see whether it's an original, recalled note or one of the safe replacement shipments. The IMEI can be found on the Note 7's barcode label, but you can also view it on the device itself by going to the settings menu.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Banned on Planes

In response to reports of explosive battery malfunctions in Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a statement advising airplane passengers not to use, or even pack the smartphones during air travel. "In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices," the statement reads, "the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage."

The announcement comes after Samsung suspended Galaxy Note 7 sales, and issued a global recall for devices already sold, a reaction to reports that some phone batteries exploded during charging. Samsung claimed that the number of incidents was low — 35 globally as of September 1st — and nobody appears to have been injured so far by a malfunctioning device, but at least two property-destroying fires have recently been blamed on the smartphone. In the light of those reports, it seems only sensible to stop people from bringing a potentially explosive device into the sky.

FAA Statement on Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Devices https://t.co/NADpT5Jma4 pic.twitter.com/e9uJvNmUUq

— The FAA (@FAANews) September 8, 2016

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Smart, Globe release advisories on Samsung Galaxy Note7 recall

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine telcos Smart and Globe have issued advisories on replacing the Galaxy Note7, the subject of a major global recall by Korean tech giant Samsung.

Samsung on Friday, September 2, issued a global recall of their latest big-screen smartphone. The company released the model in mid-August in several territories, and has since sold 1 million units – a significant portion of the 2.5 million reported to have been already manufactured.

After a few units reportedly exploded while being charged, Samsung delved into the matter, found out that the cause was the battery, and made the decision to halt sales and replace all units worldwide – the Philippines included.

After the official announcement from Samsung, Smart and Globe released their advisories on replacing customers' Note7 units via their social media channels.

Smart has halted their sales of the phone model and has advised affected consumers to proceed to any Smart store for product assistance:

SMART ADVISORY on SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE7
Smart is fully aware of the reports about some user concerns on the new Samsung Galaxy Note7. Rest assured that the safety of our subscribers is our foremost priority.
In the light of the global announcement made by Samsung, Smart is taking the following actions:
1. We have stopped selling and releasing the Samsung Galaxy Note7.
2. We are requesting all our subscribers who purchased the handset from us to proceed to any Smart Store so we can assist them.
Please refer to the press release issued by Samsung: https://news.samsung.com/global/statement-on-galaxy-note7
Thank you very much.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications/photos/a.377239847310.156191.137599377310/10154459547982311/?type=3


Globe says they're waiting for the replacement units from Samsung:

You may have heard of Samsung's official announcement to voluntarily replace the Galaxy Note 7 of its customers. We're now working closely with them on the replacement process. So if you got a Note 7 from us, we'll take care of getting you a replacement as soon as Samsung provides the units.
You can also choose to replace your Note 7 with another device as long as it's available. We'll send you a text and call you directly within the next 3 days to know your preference.
If you want to keep using your Note 7, please keep safe by taking proper precautions, like using only the original battery charger that came with the unit.
If you have questions or clarifications, please get in touch with us via talk@globe.com.ph. To view Samsung’s official statement, visit http://news.samsung.com/global/statement-on-galaxy-note7. Thank you!

Source: https://www.facebook.com/globeph/photos/a.106835214747.95522.30433734747/10154126995099748/?type=3&theater

Locally, the replacement terms are still opaque. The US replacement program sets the precedent. In that market, Note7 buyers can choose to replace their unit with a new, fixed Note7, or the equally high-spec Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge.

Samsung says they could begin as early as next week to deliver the new Note7s but hasn't released word on when the S7 replacement units will be available.

Samsung is also giving US consumers a $25 gift card or credit worth $25 for use on their phone bill

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Samsung explains how recall works on US Device Galaxy Note 7 as early as next week

It's been less than 24 hours since Samsung announced its worldwide recall of the Galaxy Note 7, and owners are probably wondering exactly what's next. 

The major US carriers have already provided information on what they will do for customers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon), and now Samsung is laying out its plans for direct support. If owners want to exchange for another Galaxy Note 7, they can do that as early as next week. Their other option is to exchange the device for a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, plus replacement of any Note accessories and a refund of the price difference.

For their trouble, Samsung says it's offering a $25 gift card or bill credit from "select carriers" when swapping for a new device through the replacement program. Owners should contact the retailer where they purchased the device, or call 1-800-SAMSUNG for more information. Continuing its message from earlier this morning, the company says it has identified "the affected inventory" but it's still voluntarily replacing devices for all interested owners.

It seems like a lot of trouble and not much payback for owners who have already picked up the phone. 

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Samsung has issued a recall of the Galaxy Note 7 amid battery risk

A small number of explosions still represents a big risk, , Samsung has issued a recall of the device.

The problem occurs when faulty devices are being charged, and is down to an issue within the batteries themselves, rather than chargers or circuitry. Apparently, it affects only a small percentage of devices, but when shipments are in the millions, that still amounts to a very big problem. At a press conference to announce the recall, Samsung said that 35 cases of the fault have been reported to date, and it estimates the problem affects only 24 in a million of devices, which equates to roughly one per 42,000.

Samsung has halted the sales of the device worldwide, and is preparing replacements. It says it'll take around two weeks to get the pieces in place, and it'll exchange devices like-for-like. Most carriers around the world had already halted sales, and any that hadn't, will now, to ensure the faulty devices don't spread any further. The precise details of how the recall will work are likely to be announced by regional offices. 



By all accounts, this will be the highest-profile consumer tech recall in history, but it's by no means the first. Apple has had its fair share of issues, from the Beats Pill XL recall last year to the iPhone 4 Antennagate (which resulted in free bumper cases being handed out). Fitbit had huge problems with skin irritation on the Force fitness tracker, and ended up recalling all of them. The largest recall of all, however, surrounds Takata airbags -- to date, well over 50 million have been recalled

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