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Samsung is Recalling 2.5M Phones Because of Exploding Batteries
5:33 AMSamsung is recalling 2.5M phones because of exploding batteries; Samsung is recalling millions of new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones
worldwide after reports that the devices can catch fire while charging.
Samsung is recalling its Galaxy Note 7 worldwide due to reports that the battery can explode while charging. Although the issue likely only affects less than 0.1% of devices, the South Korean company will replace more than 2.5 million across the globe. The timing isn’t good for Samsung — not only does the recall come right before next week’s iPhone announcement, it may also “reverse a recent up-trend” for the company. Samsung just had its most profitable quarter in two years.
Not so fast: China is opening an antitrust investigation into the proposed acquisition of Uber China by local rival Didi Chuxing. China’s Ministry of Commerce said the investigation was prompted by local concerns about the deal and that the organization has already had two meetings with Didi. Although the ministry could put the kibosh on the merger, it likely won’t because the purchaser is a Chinese company, notes the New York Times. However, “there is little precedent for the merger, and the ministry has held up transactions — sometimes for years — to extract the terms it desires.” Those terms could include pricing controls or other measures to slow Didi’s expansion.
On the other side of the world, Uber won the right to take Transport for London to court over its new requirements for private-hire drivers, including an English language test for drivers from non-English speaking countries. “The exam looks at proficiency in speaking and listening — something Uber broadly supports — but also reading and writing,” says Engadget, and Uber argues it goes well beyond the requirements for British citizenship. Uber has 30,000 drivers just in London and says TfL’s changes could affect thousands.
Google is reportedly shelving Project Ara, its effort to build a ‘modular smartphone’ with interchangeable components. It comes as a bit of a surprise: the company had announced a series of partners for Ara in May and planned to ship a developer version this fall, with a consumer version due in 2017. This move is part of Google’s unification of hardware development under former Motorola president Rick Osterloh, and the company may ultimately license the technology to other partners.
Cover Photo: A woman tests a Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone at a Samsung showroom in Seoul on September 2, 2016. Samsung will suspend sales of its latest high-end smartphone Galaxy Note 7 after reports of exploding batteries, its mobile chief said on September 2.
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