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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones have been recalled because phones have begun to explode and catch fire randomly.  Manufacturing has been put on hold for the time being.  Explosions have been reported in the U.S. and Asia.  In Florida, a man’s Jeep was set on fire by his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone while it was charging in the car.  Another man reported a fire in his garage caused by his charging phone.  In NYC a boy was burned after the Galaxy Note 7 blew up in his hand.  China’s Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is not having this problem because their version has a different battery.  This leads Samsung to think that the explosions are caused because the battery may have a small defect.  

When the batteries are made they are designed to store as much power as possible making them very likely to alter rapidly and unpredictably, usually for the worse.  The batteries’ design includes safeguards to ensure that energy is only released in the controlled amounts needed to charge your phone.  A manufacturing defect has caused, in some cases, the battery to discharge its stored energy very quickly and start a fire.  

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the safest choice is to shut the phone completely off and return it for a refund.  Samsung expects to get everything resolved in the next few weeks.  They want to replace all the Galaxy Note 7 phones with the new, defect free, version before people get severely wounded or killed by the current version catching fire.  The new version is expected to have a special label that says the phone is safe. They are expecting a slight sales reduction because of the recall but it is not that big of a deal in their eyes.  They are hoping that this recall and defect in the phones does not affect the amount of trust customers have in their business.

Information found at www.vox.com and www.huffingtonpost.com.