Chitchat Bravo! Samsung Note 7 will be available! Refurbished! Coming!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...-sell-refurbished-galaxy-note-7s/3629456.html


Samsung Electronics says to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s

Posted 27 Mar 2017 22:10 Updated 27 Mar 2017 23:05

Email More

A A

SEOUL: Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Monday it plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that were pulled from markets due to fire-prone batteries.

The Note 7s were permanently scrapped in October, roughly two months from the launch of the near-US$900 devices, as more of the phones self-combusted despite a global recall initiated in September. A subsequent probe found manufacturing problems in batteries supplied by two different companies - Samsung SDI Co Ltd and Amperex Technology Ltd.

Analysis from Samsung and independent researchers found no other problems in the Note 7 devices except the batteries, raising speculation that Samsung will recoup some of its losses by selling refurbished Note 7s. The company estimated a US$5.5 billion profit hit over three quarters from the Note 7's troubles.

Samsung, which had sold 3.06 million Note 7s to consumers before taking the phones off the market, had not previously said what it plans to do with the recovered phones. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters in January that it was considering the possibility of selling refurbished versions of the device or reusing some parts from the recalled phones.

"Regarding the Galaxy Note 7 devices as refurbished phones or rental phones, applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand," Samsung said in a statement, adding the firm will pick the markets and release dates for refurbished Note 7s accordingly.

The company also plans to recover and use or sell reusable components such as chips and camera modules and extract rare metals such as copper, gold, nickel and silver from Note 7 devices it opts not to sell as refurbished products.

The firm had been under pressure from environment rights group Greenpeace and others to come up with environmentally friendly ways to deal with the recovered Note 7s. Greenpeace said in a separate statement on Monday that it welcomed Samsung's decision and the firm should carry out its plans in a verifiable manner.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee; editing by David Clarke/Ruth Pitchford)

- Reuters

Samsung reveals plans to sell refurbished Galaxy Note7s
Published time: 27 Mar, 2017 21:40
Get short URL
Samsung reveals plans to sell refurbished Galaxy Note7s
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook6Share to TwitterShare to RedditShare to StumbleUponShare to Google+Share to Tumblr
Following pressure from environmental groups, tech giant Samsung has finally revealed its plans for all the Galaxy Note7s that were pulled from the market because of faulty, exploding batteries.

Samsung announced a voluntary recall of all Note7s in October last year after the device was found to “overheat" creating a "safety risk.” The phones were completely scrapped a short time later, only about two months after they were launched with a price tag of nearly $900.

READ MORE: Turn off & stop using devices, Samsung tells all Galaxy Note 7 users over explosion concerns

An investigation into the fault blamed two different suppliers, Samsung SDI Co Ltd and Amperex Technology Ltd, as some batteries were found to be irregularly sized, causing overheating, while others had manufacturing problems.

On Monday, the South Korean company hinted that it plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that were pulled from stores. Samsung has yet to give specific details but a statement says that the phones may get a new lease of life “as refurbished phones or rental phones."

“Regarding the Galaxy Note 7 devices as refurbished phones or rental phones, applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand,” the statement read.

READ MORE: Samsung chief to be indicted on bribery & embezzlement charges

Samsung also hinted at proposals for recycling the devices, including retrieving the hardware's precious metals and recovering reusable components such as chips and cameras.

The news was welcomed by Greenpeace who had repeatedly lobbied the tech giant to recycle the devices by holding global protests, including at the Mobile World Congress, and launching petitions.

"While we welcome this news, Samsung must share as soon as possible more detailed timelines on when it will implement its promises, as well as how it intends to change its production system to make sure this never happens again,” Greenpeace’s Jude Lee said.

http://www.marketing-interactive.com/samsung-to-release-galaxy-s8-and-refurbished-note-7s/

29/03/2017 Wed 11:32 in Hong Kong by Angel Tang
Samsung to release Galaxy S8 and refurbished Note 7

Half a year after its Note 7 was recalled for multiple battery explosions, Samsung has some better news.

The Korea-based company is preparing to unveil the new Galaxy S8 today. It has also announced plans to sell a “refurbished” model of the Note 7.
The return of Galaxy Note 7

Announced in the English blogpost, Samsung said they are considering using the devices as refurbished phones or rental phones where applicable. Currently, the company has collected 97% of its Note 7 smartphones, and issued a software code to block those that are still in circulation from being recharged. Customers were either offered refunds or a replacement phone.

“Applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand. The markets and release dates will be determined accordingly,” the statement read.

For leftover component recycling, salvageable components such as precious metal like copper, nickel, gold and silver will be detached for reuse in an environmental friendly way, the company said.
The arrival of Galaxy S8

On the other hand, Samsung’s 2017 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, will be officially announced today, and one of the biggest business as well as public relations challenge in the company’s history will begin.

As far as we can see, the company’s marketing effort has made little mention of its safety in a possible attempt to avoid media from picking up the narrative. Instead, the company is highlighting the innovations it would bring with the new flagship phone.

“Samsung is still the number one smartphone player worldwide, but the brand lost prestige and consumer trust with the debacle of the Galaxy Note 7,” Thomas Husson, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester told Marketing. “The company only has a window of opportunity of several months before the launch of the 10th anniversary iPhone.”

Husson said the company has set the bar quite high with its ambition to reinvent the smartphone category when teasing the 29th announcement at Mobile World Congress, which increased expectations on what it may announce. The launch of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone is thus key for the brand even though it has managed to reduce its business dependency on smartphones, contrary to Apple.

“The launch of the new device must be perfectly executed for Samsung to gain innovation leadership and to gain market share in the high-end smartphone segment,” he concluded.

The launch of the new device must be perfectly executed for Samsung to gain innovation leadership and to gain market share in the high-end smartphone segment.

According to Husson, Samsung can likely innovate with “a new bezel-less design, the removal of the traditional home button, an advanced curved screen, new sensors for fingerprinting and identity recognition, and of course top-of-the-line hardware specifications”.

It would also make sense to surf the virtual reality hype and to update its accessories – both the Samsung GR Gear headset and the Samsung Gear 360 camera.

Phil Pomford, general manager, APAC, Global eCom at Worldpay, said the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 could mark the tipping point in the adoption of biometric-based security. “We have already seen certain banks and card companies introduce ‘selfie’ authentication, but the integration of this technology into your mobile device will bring facial recognition to the mainstream for the first time,” he said.

Husson, however, added that the most difficult part for Samsung is whether it can truly integrate software to enable services that will be useful for consumers’ daily lives.

“For example, the new Bixby virtual assistant may drastically simplify the interface and make it easier to use the smartphone. However, to truly differentiate from Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, it has to be more integrated with third party brands, beyond the few pre-installed apps.”

“We’ll see how Samsung leverages its acquisition of Viv over time, but I think the brand will struggle to compete in the longer term with the broader digital ecosystems from Google, Amazon or Apple. Samsung will have to work much more closely with third-party brands and developers to differentiate Bixby from other virtual assistants,” he explained.

Samsung will have to work much more closely with third-party brands and developers to differentiate Bixby from other virtual assistants.

The flagship phone will be announced today at on pre-order from April 7 or 10, and land in stores on April 21.

Rumours have it that the phone will sell for US$850, which is roughly HK$6,630, according to TechRadar.

Will it come with a guarantee that, the battery would not explode? & why would anyone, trust a crippled device??....

Samsung warehouse exploded at AMK

halsey02 said:

Will it come with a guarantee that, the battery would not explode? & why would anyone, trust a crippled device??....

Click to expand...

The phone so good in features, I won't care about this tiny battery risk issue. Powerful RAM CPU Network Best Screen quality. Good Android OS, lots of apps. Way lesser than 1% have batteries issue, much alike Any other phones.

if no explode i worry

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/samsung-galaxy-s8-unveil-5-things-to-know/3636090.html


Samsung Galaxy S8 unveil: 5 things to know
By Kevin Kwang Posted 30 Mar 2017 08:00 Updated 30 Mar 2017 12:36

ENLARGECAPTION
3 Email More
SINGAPORE: Electronics giant Samsung on Wednesday (Mar 29) threw the covers off its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, with much of its fortunes – at least in the mobile phone space - riding on it being a hit with consumers.

The South Korean conglomerate knows that it must reverse the public perception on the safety of its products, following a year strewn with bad publicity. Its previous offering, the Galaxy Note7 saw an ill-fated launch after consumers reported of the phone’s battery bursting into flames while charging, forcing the company to issue a global recall and eventually retire the model for good.

The mobile unit’s president, Mr DJ Koh, noted as much, saying it has been a “challenging year” for the conglomerate during his opening remarks at the launch event in New York, which was also streamed online.

Channel NewsAsia was able to get a first-hand look at the new device, and here are some quick observations:

No bezel, no problem

The company kicked bezels to the curb in the latest iteration of the Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Coming in two models, the S8 and S8+, screen estate is now 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch, respectively, now that the borders have been eliminated. This follows Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s Mi Mix, which also sported the bezel-less look, when it was unveiled last year.




Bye bye, home button

Samsung took a leaf from Apple’s playbook, and went one step further, by eliminating the physical home button completely on the S8. Instead, the pressure-sensitive home “button” (see below) emerges when tapped on, even when a full-screen app in use covers it.



Other hardware innovations include a 10nm processor, which gives more zip to processing power, and comes with 3,000 mAh and 3,500 mAh battery power for the S8 and S8+, respectively. This fares favourably compared with the 1,960 mAh and the 2,900 mAh sported by Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Recent woes with the Note7 battery were, not surprisingly, given little mention.


Software, software, software

Not content with the hardware innovations, Samsung also showed its software chops by introducing a new digital assistant, Bixby, which it touted to be aware of what’s going on on the screen even as the user gives audio commands. It also introduced new biometric authentication methods such as iris scans and facial recognition software, to go with fingerprint scans and the conventional numeric and pattern passwords. 


Samsung = Smart 

Or at least, that’s what the company hopes to be known as, even as it made another push to control consumers’ smart devices at home using a single app - Samsung Command. Samsung executive Sriram Thodla said during the unveil that this is a platform to manage one’s Web-connected appliances. 
No mention, though, whether they should be from Samsung.

Expanding the ecosystem

Samsung also made its recent US$8 billion acquisition of Harman International Industries count, when it announced that all S8 devices will come bundled with a pair of wired AKG earbuds. This will be music to some consumers’ ears.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 will start shipping internationally from Apr 21, and will be available in Singapore some time in April, but pricing details have yet to be announced.



Some of the accessories to be sold alongside the S8, including the wireless charging docks (centre).

- CNA/kk