While most of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices sold in the United States will become basically useless after three of the four largest U.S. carriers push Samsung’s December 19 update to devices on their networks, the phone maker won’t go that far in the United Kingdom, instead they’ll limit the device’s charging capacity to 30%.
Four days before the software update goes live in the US (December 19), Samsung UK will release an update designed to cap charging at 30-percent. It won’t render the Note 7 useless, but it sure will make using the thing a pain in the butt.
Samsung says the UK update is designed to further minimize customer risk and reinforce to customers to replace their device through the Galaxy Note 7 Replacement Program as soon as possible. (They said it with the British spelling of some of those words, but otherwise, that’s what they said. – Ed.)
While around 93% of U.S. users have turned in their Galaxy Note 7, worldwide the number has been lower, leading to Samsung’s drastic moves to either eliminate the ability to charge the device, or limit it to what is apparently considered a safe level.
Meanwhile, back stateside, Verizon has refused to push the Samsung update to its customers, saying while the update may fix one problem, it could create others.
Today, Samsung announced an update to the Galaxy Note7 that would stop the smartphone from charging, rendering it useless unless attached to a power charger. Verizon will not be taking part in this update because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note7 users that do not have another device to switch to. We will not push a software upgrade that will eliminate the ability for the Note7 to work as a mobile device in the heart of the holiday travel season. We do not want to make it impossible to contact family, first responders or medical professionals in an emergency situation.
The other leading carriers all plan to cooperate with Samsung, pushing the update to devices on their networks on different dates, with T-Mobile pushing it on December 27, AT&T on January 5, and Sprint on January 8.
