“I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!”
I flew home from New York to Toronto this morning, and prior to the flight attendant warning everyone about seatbelts and emergency exits, they told us to “power down all Samsung Galaxy Note 7s.” Like all infectious diseases, this one seems to be spreading quickly and widely before it can be contained, and Samsung, despite its best efforts, is having a tough time doing that. Obviously the implications for the company’s reputation are unclear right now, but it wouldn’t be unrealistic to say that this patient is going to take a long time to heal.
Speaking of healing, today was the first day I needed a sweatshirt in Toronto, which is both exciting and upsetting. Winter is coming, friends.
Now you can check if your Galaxy Note 7 is safe or explosive!
Samsung’s IMEI-checker is back! Plug your unique IMEI number (dial *#06# or check your Note 7’s original box) into samsung.com/us/note7recall/ to check whether your device is safe. If it’s not, recall that sucker!
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall is official
Samsung and the U.S. CPSC will recall around a million Note 7s sold over the past month. A total of 92 incidents of battery fires or explosions have been reported in the U.S. alone, with 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of damage to property. Replacement units will be available in the U.S. from September 21. More
‘Safe’ Galaxy Note 7s may use a green battery icon
… to easily tell them apart from the potentially explosive version, with its standard white icon. The report from ZDNet in Seoul doesn’t clarify whether the change will apply to all regions, or just Samsung’s home country. More
Google launches first Duo commercials
You’ll find the group of five on YouTube, and they’re all pretty clever … if not a little creepy at times. We expect these to land on TV soon, but you can already download Duo from Google Play, even if you don’t like the commercials.
Motorola commits a lie for a good(?) cause
Motorola brought a bunch of Apple diehards together for a “focus group” aimed at dispelling the hype around the latest iPhone. By showing so-called iPhone prototypes that were actually — you guessed it — Moto Zs, it got people interested. “It’s our challenge to you. To the industry.” How ’bout releasing it on more than one carrier, then?
OnePlus keeps the beta build train rolling
Good news for fans of tinkering with the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus X (RIP!): new community builds are available for both phones, and they’re rich in new features. For the OnePlus 3, specifically, a bunch of improvements to the dialer and messenger app are good news, but we’re not so sure about the “kill all background processes” option in the multitasking menu. Let’s not go backwards, OnePlus.
More colo(u)rs come to the HTC 10 in Canada
After launching in the U.S. in August, two more HTC 10 colors are now available, unlocked, in Canada — gold, and a nice, deep red. The price is still a hefty $999 CAD ($750 USD, $150 more than the U.S. model), but the red version is pretty special. Anyone biting?
SwiftKey gets swifter, smarter, and more cerebral
Remember last year when SwiftKey (now owned by $MSFT) debuted a version of its keyboard powered by a neural network? Well now that technology powers the popular, widely-used Android version of its app (at least when using U.S. or UK English). What does that mean? It can make better predictions based on longer pieces of text, which will hopefully make you type faster and with fewer mistakes. Bring it on!
