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Hardware

Australian Airlines Ban Use of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones After Battery Fires (reuters.com) 67

Less than a week after FAA said it was thinking about banning the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from flights, three Australian airlines announced that it would ban passengers from using or charging Note 7 smartphones during flights. The announcement comes a week after Samsung announced that it was banning the sales of its new flagship smartphone over nearly three-dozen phones exploded worldwide. Reuters reports: Qantas, its budget unit Jetstar and Virgin Australia said they had not been directed to ban the use of the phone by aviation authorities, but did so as a precaution following Samsung's recall of the phones in 10 markets. Although customers will still be able to bring the phones on flights, the ban extends to the phones being plugged in to flight entertainment systems where USB ports are available. The recall follows reports of the 988,900 won ($885) phone igniting while charging -- an embarrassing blow to Samsung, which prides itself on its manufacturing prowess and had been banking on the devices to add momentum to a recovery in its mobile business. Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone vendor, has sold 2.5 million of the premium devices so far. "Following Samsung Australia's recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 personal electronic device we are requesting that passengers who own them do not switch on or charge them in flight," a Qantas spokesman said in an emailed statement.
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Australian Airlines Ban Use of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones After Battery Fires

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  • Surprise (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Air Freight in AU wont carry anything with Li-on batteries - what a pain that is.

    We're a smallish but global company - getting an ex employee to ship back a laptop - first you have to find a carrier that will take things with Li-on batteries, Australians are typically lazy, so expecting someone to drive 40 minutes to Melbourne to drop it off for shipping took A LOT of encouragement and patience .

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Re:Surprise (Score:5, Insightful)

        by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Thursday September 08, 2016 @11:18AM (#52848547)

        appeared to be stuck on slow

        That's the way we like it. An awesome lifestyle which is often at odds with North Americans. But really you should try coming to Europe. You want a coffee? Expect that to be a 30+ minute adventure, and we like it that way too.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • In many aspects of life, Australia is a mid-point between the US and Europe ... it's kinda a hybrid of them. Speed of life and attitude towards customer service is one of them, language is another (an accent closer to the UK than the US, but uses plenty of US words rather than the UK equivalents, e.g. truck vs lorry, eggplant vs. aubergine, etc.)

            It also varies drastically by where you are in the country. Some states are known to have a slower pace of life than others (true in both Australia and the US).

    • Australians are typically lazy, so expecting someone to drive 40 minutes to Melbourne to drop it off for shipping took A LOT of encouragement and patience

      No. Australian's just have zero tolerance for bullshit like this. Expecting an employee to drive 40 minutes to drop off something for shipping is not a good use of time. That's why couriers were invented.

      My personal favourite was when I needed motor protection RIGHT NOW from a vendor and couldn't wait an hour or two for a courier. We called the relay a taxi and got on with our work.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    Seems like an argument to have "Airplane mode" also disable charging.
    • What is airplane mode? The last 4 flights I've travelled on have advised me that to purchase in flight entertainment I should use the onboard WiFi. The last intercontinental flight I was on even provided internet and cellular services.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    What are they going to? Start checking every make and model of phone as part of the pre-flight death briefing to see if there are phones on the magic banned list? It makes me want to buy one or two just to have on my flights next week

    • What are they going to? Start checking every make and model of phone as part of the pre-flight death briefing to see if there are phones on the magic banned list?

      No need. Wait until after an incident, and then you check what kind of phone was involved. "Your battery was banned, and you knew. You're liable. Hey everyone who is suing us, I found the guy that you're really looking for!"

  • You think the stewardesses are going to go person by person checking their phone? I don't know the percentage of Android to iPhone ownership in Australia, but that would add a lot of time and hassle. I doubt it would get enforced anywhere, despite it being a legitimate safety issue, if only for the person holding it.
  • over nearly three-dozen phones exploded worldwide.

    Well, which is it, over or nearly?

    • by shilly ( 142940 )

      Was this some kind of joke?

      The "over" means "as a result of" and is related to the previous statement.

  • Hoverboard, e-cigarette, Note 7, and you're got that "tribute from district 12" Halloween costume nailed.

  • had not been directed to ban the use of the phone by aviation authorities, but did so as a precaution

    And that is, how things should be — competing businesses making their own decisions by weighting the damage from alienating customers against the risks to equipment and lives...

    • Yep, and this is why businesses rather pay for damages and lost lives than redesign faulty parts. Dumbass.

      • by mi ( 197448 )

        Yep, and this is why businesses rather pay for damages and lost lives than redesign faulty parts.

        Sometimes this may be appropriate, yes. It is all about costs — and a cost of a Westerner's life is under $10 million [theglobalist.com] today. So, for example, raising the cost of 20 million cars by 50 cents each to save one life is stupid, but may make sense for two or more lives.

        Before you denounce "putting a price on human life" [syr.edu], that is the criteria government [wikipedia.org] agencies [transportation.gov] use to issue their rulings... They just aren't as

        • If raising the cost of 20 million cars by 50 cent to save a lie is stupid, then your life is worth only these 50 cents.

          Seriously, idiots like you ramble about all lives having a price, but actually meaning that lives of everyone else but them have a price, but they themselves are exempt, whine the loudest if something actually happens to them. This is why I have called you a dumbass - it wasn't even an insult, just stating a fact.

          • by mi ( 197448 )

            If raising the cost of 20 million cars by 50 cent to save a lie is stupid, then your life is worth only these 50 cents.

            No, you idiot. My life is worth 50 cents multiplied by 20 million — that is $10 million. That is, roughly, what the Statistical Value of American life is today. I gave you plenty of links to educate yourself on the subject, which you failed to do.

            Sadly, you are not merely an idiot today, you are also, quite evidently, incurable.

    • And nobody has stopped them from doing so. Government puts caps on things which are not subject to efficient market pressures.

      Interesting fact: your chances you dying from a lightning strike are similar to the chances of your Note 7 catching fire.

      • by mi ( 197448 )

        Government puts caps on things which are not subject to efficient market pressures.

        Notably, you do not offer any examples... Requirements, that are important and justifiable, but for which the customers do not care...

  • Others have said it, they're seriously going to check each device before take off? I almost want to buy one, take a picture of it with me on an Australian air flight, and tweet it to the world. That should become a thing.
    • No, they're going to rely on the fact that the majority of people will abide by the guideline, even though a few won't. It's risk reduction, nothing more. You already have people who don't turn their phone to flight mode in contravention of the rules, but they don't go around checking everyone's phone for that either.

  • by supernova87a ( 532540 ) <kepler1&hotmail,com> on Thursday September 08, 2016 @12:19PM (#52848999)
    Qantas I have personally seen has often been on the cautious side of operations, sometimes to my frustration.

    I have personally been on flights where, when de-boarding on the tarmac, they have yelled at us not to use cell phones because of the possibility of fueling + sparks. Yet no other airline I've encountered seems to be concerned about this remote possibility.
    • Qantas has the unique distinction of not having suffered a fatality during the jet airliner era [wikipedia.org]. So they take unusual steps to try to preserve that record.

      Initially, it wasn't because they were safer - they just got lucky and their smaller number of flights reduced the chances of an accident even if their accident rate was the same. But now that it's become something they brag about, they take extraordinary (sometimes excessive) measures to protect that record. (Some say it gets them more customers be
      • Before the pedants jump all over this, I should clarify that I mean of any airline which has been operating since the introduction of jet airliners. There are a bunch of small airlines which have been operating 1-3 decades which also have "perfect" safety records.
      • So they take unusual steps to try to preserve that record.

        Don't defend the inconsistent idiocy of airlines. There's no way a spark from within the cabin will ignite a refuelling operation outside. There's no evidence wireless signals cause airplane electronics to suffer, and many airplanes not only allow you to use your devices at all times but some even don't require flightmode anymore.

        Did QANTAS cease all A380 operations after one of the engines failed spectacularly? Nope. They didn't even cease operation when Rolls Royce (I think) acknowledged the design fault

    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Qantas I have personally seen has often been on the cautious side of operations, sometimes to my frustration. I have personally been on flights where, when de-boarding on the tarmac, they have yelled at us not to use cell phones because of the possibility of fueling + sparks. Yet no other airline I've encountered seems to be concerned about this remote possibility.

      Erm, they're not concerned about sparks, they're concerned about you becoming to engrossed in your phone and wandering off.

      I've seen this happen a lot on sites that have a lot of danger. People who aren't used to working in such sites walk into boom gates, low hanging bars, chains, brick walls and the like all the time. Last time I was at my mechanics I watched someone walk into a raised car on a hoist because they were too busy buggerising around with their phone (and then he blamed the hoist for being

    • by Agripa ( 139780 )

      I have personally been on flights where, when de-boarding on the tarmac, they have yelled at us not to use cell phones because of the possibility of fueling + sparks. Yet no other airline I've encountered seems to be concerned about this remote possibility.

      And no shuffling of feet. And sweaters are right out.

  • Which people at the airport are supposed to know how to distinguish a Galaxy Note 7 from a Galaxy Note 6?
  • "Hey guys, what's the best way we can tank the company..."

    "Get Kim Jong Un as our only spokesman?"

    "put out a NAMBLA edition?"

    "How about, right when Apple puts out a new phone, when everyone is agog even though it's just a phone, lets have our phones blow up!!"

    "Brilliant! And it's even better if we get banned from flying because of safety reasons... those are great headlines!!"

    Me and my wife have iPhones. 1) Im amazed that there is this much interest every damn iPhone release. It's a phone. 2) Id hate to

  • So it's literally a burning platform.

    I think it will blow over. But I'm bummed because I wanted to buy one; guess I'd better wait until they have solved it in production rather than by recalling or by just hoping for the best. OTOH it's not "open" enough is it... Sony is trying to get their stuff supported in mainline Linux, so is a Sony phone my best chance of both having "flagship" specs AND running a real convergence-oriented Linux OS on it in the future? It's just a matter of time until Ubuntu and Pl

  • He handed the pilot a note. It said "I am not a terrorist. But I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, and I have never been to Switzerland. That's all it said, and to this day the experts are wondering if that *even* qualifies as a "ransom demand".

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