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Samsung launched the Note 7 in 2016, but the phone was on sale for less than two months before repeated issues with battery fires resulted in its cancelation. The phone came back in 2017 as the Note FE (Fan Edition) in select markets. Even though Samsung would probably prefer to forget this whole incident ever happened, it's still pushing a Pie update today.
It feels like years have passed, but it was only a little more than a year ago when the hottest topic (and joke) on the block was Samsung and its Note 7's propensity to spontaneously go up in flames. But the Note being the Note meant that despite many a recall program, several updates supposed to render the device useless, and dozens of offers to tempt users to give back their phones, some held onto their precious Note 7 like a little collector item. Samsung capitalized on it by releasing a special Galaxy Note Fan Edition (notice the missing "7") last February with a very similar design and internals as the Note 7, save for a few differences (smaller 3200mAh battery, no Samsung logo on the front, Fan Edition inscription on the back, and Bixby.)
Samsung took a big hit last year when the well-reviewed Galaxy Note 7 showed a propensity to burst into flames. Samsung eventually had to recall millions of units and cancel the device entirely. The company has been working on a revamped version of the Note 7 in recent months, but now the Wall Street Journal has release details. According to the WSJ report, Samsung will launch the Galaxy Note 7 Fandom Edition on July 7th in South Korea.
A prudent person doesn't ever joke about bombs in an airport. After today, you might want to extend those warnings to a certain flagship Samsung smartphone. According to a BBC report, a passenger on a Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Boston last week labelled his phone's Wi-Fi hotspot as "Galaxy Note 7." Hijinks, of the not particularly entertaining variety, ensued.
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- We've been informed by a commenter that effective December 15th, Samsung Australia will be banning the IMEIs of all Galaxy Note7 smartphones. Samsung AU is also offering $250 to customers who trade their Note7 in for an S7 or S7 edge in addition to the difference in resale values until December 22nd. Thanks, Beau.
Samsung's been trying very hard to get all units of the Galaxy Note7 returned to them, but some owners are having trouble letting go of their beloved stylus-equipped phablets. To force owners into giving them back, Samsung will be updating the Note7 to be severely crippled in Canada and literally unusable in the US. Now, Samsung is taking similar measures with UK Note7 units.
Here's an interesting wrinkle in the rapidly-closing saga of the Galaxy Note 7. Yesterday Samsung announced that it would send a software over-the-air update to the few remaining phones in the US, preventing the devices from taking a new electricity charge, and hopefully stopping any more battery-based fires. It's far from the first measure the company has taken to further encourage owners of the defective phones to accept the voluntary recall, but it might be the last. American wireless carrier Verizon, for reasons of its own, isn't participating in the latest software update.
TWRP is by far the most popular custom recovery as of late. Flashing ROMs, backing up your device, managing files in a pinch - TWRP makes it all easy. The custom recovery has extended its reach to six more devices, three of which are from Samsung.
Earlier this month, Samsung began an exchange program for Note7 owners in the United States after a global recall was announced. The United States program allowed customers to exchange their affected device and either receive a fixed model when stock was available, or buy a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge and receive a refund of the price difference.
The international recall of the Galaxy Note 7 is becoming a full-fledged disaster for Samsung, with millions of early devices (and consumers) affected. But even with the negative press and a direct hit to revenue, Samsung would prefer its customers send their faulty phones in for a replacement rather than face even a small possibility of said phones bursting into flames. In the company's home territory of South Korea, it's going to use some more direct methods of encouragement.
Samsung has made great efforts to make the Galaxy Note 7 global recall as painless and quick as possible. Earlier today they released information about the replacement Note 7 stock in Australia, revealing that (at least in the land down under) replacement stock will be available September 21. But the second part of the announcement is noteworthy - Samsung has a plan to identify safe Note 7 devices from the original batch.
There's nothing that Samsung loves more than putting celebrities in its commercials. It's hardly alone in that regard, but some of the recent entries seem to be more about the celebrities than the actual phones. Case in point: the first TV commercial for the Galaxy Note 7 after the initial announcement press blitz. It features Christoph Waltz, Hollywood's current go-to somewhat creepy German-speaking dude, mildly berating Americans so they'll buy the phone.
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- As commenters have noted, the free Gear Fit 2 or MicroSD card deal is a Samsung promotion, not tied to any particular carrier. That means that Verizon fans can get in on the action as well, and that AT&T customers might be able to get all that and a bag of chips a second free watch and a tablet.
Not even an entire day has gone by since the official reveal of the Galaxy Note 7 (no, Samsung, I'm not going to take that space out, no matter how hard your brand managers glare at me) and everyone who's anyone is already trying to sell pre-orders. It's par for the course for American carriers, naturally, but something about this year's upgrade seems to have brought out the big guns. Maybe all of the cell service companies are trying to switch everyone over to a Note 7 before iPhone season rolls around? In any case, here we go:
The Galaxy Note7 has been announced by Samsung with a Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, and a spiffy curved AMOLED screen. It can even look deeply into your eyes with its iris scanner. If you just can't wait to wrap your hands around this slab of metal and glass, all the major carriers will be happy to take your money very shortly. Here are all the specifics.
The number "six" is so last year—Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Note7 to bring the numbering in-line with the flagship S phones. There were a myriad of leaks leading up to this moment, so nothing here is too surprising. It's a big Samsung phone with a stylus, a curved AMOLED, an iris scanner, and speedy internals.
Samsung has been rumored to be working on iris scanning technology for smartphones for years now. A few weeks back, Evan Blass confirmed via his own sources that the Note7 would feature an iris scanner, but no further information was provided. A leak on Weibo today, picked up by Sammobile, gives us our first glimpse at the feature itself, and provides some much-needed visual evidence of its existence. Below, you can see what very much looks like a Note7 on the lockscreen, and it's asking you to use your eye-parts to unlock the phone. On the top left, we can see what looks like a notification LED, but if I had to guess, this may have something to do with the iris scanning.
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- In a couple of later tweets, Blass did indeed mention an iris scanner, saying that his sources had confirmed it. Other rumored specs include a 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440) screen, 64GB of storage plus a microSD card slot, a 12MP/5MP camera setup, IP68 water and dust protection, and black, silver, and blue color options. Note that there's some considerable evidence in Samsung's hardware lineup and patent portfolio that indicate that the iris scanner is real.
We know the next Galaxy Note device will be announced on August 2nd, but that's pretty much all that was quasi-confirmed about Samsung's upcoming big flagship. Rumors had said that the company might skip the number 6 and jump straight to 7, to stay on par with its Galaxy series and not confuse people. After all, most of Samsung's marketing for the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge this year was around the shape of the number 7. It would send a mixed signal if it were to advertise the number 6 now for the Note. (It might also have to do with the inevitable launch of the iPhone 7 in the fall.)
A leak posted by Sammobile, pictured above, claims that the next Galaxy will be unveiled on August 2nd at the Lincoln Center in New York at 11AM local time. Interestingly, the leaked image contains the text "The next edge is just around the corner" - suggesting an edge-branded device. There has been speculation and rumor suggesting the next Galaxy Note will be known as the Note 7 (because iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7) and have a curved display like its S7 edge cousin, though will be larger than the last Galaxy Note.