Samsung's temporary fix for Galaxy Note 7 explosions is to stop the device from fully charging

Samsung has been sending out notices to everyone who has purchased the Galaxy Note 7 asking them to return their device as soon as possible and get a new one with a battery that won't make the phone explode. The Note 7 recall is one of the largest in the tech world in recent history, and the news has been spreading like wildfire ever since the recall was announced. But there are probably a lot of folks out there who have ignored the warnings and are continuing to use their phones, and Samsung has now come up with a plan to make things safer for such consumers, at least in South Korea.

The company today published an advertisement in Korean newspaper The Seoul Shinmun that it will be rolling out a software update to the Galaxy Note 7 that will prevent the device from charging beyond 60 percent. This update will start rolling out on September 20, a day after Samsung is set to offer replacement units to customers. South Korean folks will be celebrating a major national holiday this coming week, and The Associated Press says this is the main cause behind some consumers choosing to ignore the recall for the time being. Samsung is reportedly sending over free pizzas to its carrier and retail partners to thank them for handling the recall and has asked them to work during the holidays in order to tackle the recall process.

There's no word on whether the same update will be rolled out to the Note 7 in other markets; it would certainly be in the company's best interest to do so, as at the end of the day it can't exactly force every customer to turn in their faulty phone. Maybe Samsung should just make the update force the Note 7 to shut down every five minutes with a warning that it should be replaced, or at least have a nagging notification that keeps reminding the user of what could happen should they continue clinging on to their Note 7.

What do you think of Samsung's idea to use a software update to prevent the Note 7 from exploding?

Abhijeet Mishra - Editor-in-Chief

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First Samsung device: SGH-D500

Abhijeet's writing career started with guides for custom firmware for Samsung devices (including the original Galaxy S), and he moved to SamMobile in mid-2013 and worked up the ranks to Editor-in-chief. In addition to phones and mobile devices, his interests include gaming on both PC and console, PC hardware, and spending countless hours on YouTube watching videos on tech, movies, games, politics, and internet dramas.

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