#RIPNote7: Samsung finally kills off its nightmare phone

Here endeth the Note 7 lesson

It’s all over for the now infamous Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. Praised and popular when it was released earlier this year for its innovative features including the integrated S-Pen stylus system, the Note 7 quickly became an albatross around Samsung’s high-tech neck after numerous Note 7 batteries exploded, burning customers, charring homes, catching cars on fire and on and on.

Now, mercifully, Samsung has pulled the plug. After announcing early yesterday that they were “temporarily” stopping production, Samsung quickly followed that up with a full stop order on production and told phone owners to immediately power the phones off, and get them back to retailers in exchange for something else. Will the Note 7 – or even the Note line of phones – ever return? Hard to say but we think it’s unlikely. Just too much bad phone karma.

If you have a Note 7 and are wondering what to do with it, hit this link for updated exchange and refund options from Samsung and major carriers. And, really, do exchange the phone. No matter if you have an old one or an exchanged “new” Note 7, it’s a potential fiery time bomb in your pocket. Or car. Or home. Or airplane. Hey, it’s just a phone, and no matter how much you like it, the risk isn’t worth it.

Apple v. Samsung, Round No. 365 and counting

More potential bad news for Samsung is on the horizon. The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments today in the latest case between unstoppable object Samsung, and immovable object Apple, this time over – what else – smartphone patents. Samsung lost the original case in a lower court and has been hit with a nearly 400-million dollar fine, but has appealed to the high court in a last-ditch effort to win out – or at least get the fine reduced.

The details of the case are… complicated, of course, but essentially deal with some shape and operational elements of Samsung’s smartphones, which Apple claims were cribbed from the iPhone. A decision will likely come down in June of 2017.

Virtual reality, now with more touching

Looking to get more out of your Oculus Rift VR setup? Perfect, as Oculus has announced its “Touch Motion” controllers are now on sale.

Preorders for the devices that let you do more in Oculus’s VR universe went live today, and 200 actual dollars will get you a pair of the devices that allow for more virtual interaction – and just plain action – in the growing Oculus activity catalog. Oculus says units will ship on December 6^th, just in time for the holidays, naturally.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2dHDXNc
Bill Roberson