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It’s not clear how many Note 7 devices actually have a safety problem, but Samsung’s various partners are treating the situation extremely seriously. Oculus, the manufacturer for the Oculus Rift VR headset and Samsung’s partner on the Gear VR, has pushed a software update out that disables all support for the Note 7 in the Gear VR headset.
It’s not hard to see why Oculus would take this step. Lithium-ion battery fires can be extremely energetic, and the risk of having a device strapped to your face explode in flames isn’t a chance any sane person would want to take. Reports from users suggest that the GearVR can get pretty toasty as it is, and while higher temperatures haven’t been directly linked to the Note 7 fiasco, higher operating temperatures can still be implicated in cases of thermal runaway. The phrase refers to a positive feedback condition in which a sufficiently high amount of heat triggers an exothermic (energy-releasing) reaction. The exothermic reaction releases additional heat, accelerating the reaction rate.

As of now, the devices listed as compatible with the Samsung Gear VR are the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5. Oculus’ statement reads:

Customer safety is our top priority. Oculus is removing support for all Note7 devices on the Oculus platform. Until further notice, Note7 devices will not be compatible with the Gear VR. For more information regarding the Note7, please visit Samsung’s information page or contact Samsung directly.

Samsung has also announced that it has asked all retailers and partners to stop selling the device or swapping it out for different hardware.

We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available.

This is being treated across the internet as the effective death of the Note 7. There’s no real way Samsung can recover the product after having to do two recalls, and the fact that the company had to take this step suggests that some of our earlier praise for the company was somewhat misplaced. I still think Samsung acted properly in trying to get ahead of the news cycle, but that commendation assumed the company also knew exactly what the problem was and how to fix it.

Right now, there are several possibilities to explain the second recall. Samsung may have properly identified the problem (compression of the battery that leads to short-circuiting) but mistakenly put the blame on a single battery manufacturer when the issue was actually more widespread. It may have misidentified the problem and blamed a short-circuit based on battery compression when the issue is actually some other aspect of the battery’s design, chemistry, or management software. Either way, the fact that the issue wasn’t solved speaks to problems in how Samsung diagnosed it.
That’s problematic for reasons that go beyond the Note 7 itself. The mobile phone market is a cutthroat industry and consumers have come to expect that new devices will arrive on a yearly cadence, even though most people don’t upgrade every single year. But think about what that means. We’ve talked before about the long lead time between when engineers get started working on a product and when that product actually ships. It takes 3-4 years to design a new CPU or GPU architecture from scratch and smartphones have to go through extensive carrier testing before they come to market. The team working on the Galaxy Note 8 is almost certainly well underway already, even though the Note 7 just launched.
Introducing devices on a yearly cadence requires a highly streamlined and fast-moving product pace, even though the companies in question are simultaneously fighting to introduce new technologies with each and every product cycle. It’s not surprising to see some issues crop up here, and they aren’t unique to Samsung — we’ve criticized Apple for its refusal to acknowledge the iPhone 6 Plus’s touch disease or offer meaningful support to the customers that bought that device.
Between the iPhone 6’s problems and Samsung’s Note 7 disaster, it’s not clear this accelerated product cycle is actually improving anything for anyone. Samsung’s problem is more serious. But when the two leading manufacturers in the smartphone industry are both fielding defective hardware, it’s worth considering whether pushing new devices every single year is such a smart idea.

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Oculus disables Gear VR on the Galaxy Note 7 as Samsung kills the phone permanently

Unknown 12 October 2016

Xiaomi, after unveiling the Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus smartphones, may be gearing to launch another Mi-series smartphone, the Mi Note 2. Additionally, new details have emerged on multiple Xiaomi smartphones including the next flagship Mi 6, Mi 5c, and a mysterious new Xiaomi phone.
There have been several leaks on the Mi Note 2 smartphone already making it to the Internet in recent weeks. If Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun is to be believed, the Mi Note 2 will "have a surprise." The news was first reported by a Chinese publication. Some of the purported specifications tipped for the Mi Note 2 include Qualcomm Snapdragon 835; 6GB of RAM; 128GB of inbuilt storage, and a 21-megapixel dual rear camera.
In other news, Xiaomi's alleged next flagship smartphone, the Mi 6, has been leaked in purported images claiming to show the phone ahead of any launch. The leaked images were first picked up by Priceraja and show the front as well as rear of the alleged Mi 6 smartphone. In the leaked images, the front seems to be inspired by the Mi 5 while the rear seems plain compared to the current flagship. The alleged Mi 6 was leaked in a Black colour variant. Another mysterious smartphone from Xiaomi has also hit the rumour mills and is claimed to sport an E-Ink notification display on the rear panel, which will be the highlight of the handset. Apart from the E-Ink display (via Weibo tipster KJuma), the handset is said to launch this year. Unfortunately, no other details are available on the mysterious Xiaomi phone as of now.

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Xiaomi CEO Claims Mi Note 2 Will "Have a Surprise"

Unknown 11 October 2016

EU regulators who are investigating whether Alphabet unit Google is abusing its market power have has not extended their scrutiny to its tax deals with national authorities across Europe, the EU's antitrust chief said on Monday.
Margrethe Vestager, who in recent months ordered Apple to pay up to EUR 13 billion ($15 billion or roughly Rs. 96,493 crores) in back taxes to Ireland and Starbucks up to 30 million euros to the Dutch tax office, said Google was not on her radar for now.
"So far, no, we have nothing formal on that one," Vestager told reporters.
She said she had not received any formal complaint from the Scottish National Party which in January sent a letter to the European Commission concerning Google's 130 million pounds ($160 million or roughly Rs. 1,314 crores) back tax deal with British tax authorities which some British politicians criticised as a derisory amount.

Vestager also defended the slow pace of the Commission's antitrust cases against Google, saying she wanted the shopping case to be water-tight. This first case has dragged on since 2010 when her predecessor kicked off the investigation.
"I am as sorry as you and everyone else that antitrust work is taking a lot of time," she told European lawmakers earlier on Monday.

"But it is also a sign that this is a case that is building in its strength as well as a case which is of course strictly following our procedures to make sure that also here we build up the rule of law."
Vestager said she did not know when she would issue a decision but the case was a very high priority for her.
In the shopping case, Google has been accused of favouring its shopping service over those of rivals in internet search results. It has also been charged with blocking rivals in online search advertising and doing the same with dominant Android mobile operating system.

The Commission has warned the company of hefty fines in both the shopping and Android cases and changes in its business practices if it is eventually found guilty of wrongdoing.

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Google's Tax Deals Not Being Investigated, Says EU's Vestager

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Vodafone India has sought bids for its data centre facility in Navi Mumbai, a suburb of India's financial capital, said two people familiar with details. Currently, two strategic companies are interested in buying it out but at cost for Vodafone, said one of them. The data centre has been built at a cost of Rs1,200 crore and was commissioned under ex-chief executive Marten Pieters.

"The data centre is now seen as a cost centre which won't increase (Vodafone's) appeal, but in partnership with a bigger strategic could mean stick enterprise business," the second person said.

It was part of the company's strategic plan to get enterprise customers, especially the booming medium segment and startups, the first person said. It was meant to compete with the service offering Tata Teleservices and Tata Communications - that controlled cabled lease line business and had data centres - offered. "We intend to launch the data centre shortly and are currently in the process of gaining the requisite approvals," said Vodafone's spokesman in an email. He did not comment on the company's intent to sell.

The second person said the value of the asset after the launch may increase and could command a premium from buyers who are at the moment only offering to buy it at cost. "Even if there is a little revenue to show on it, data centres in Asia can be very valuable for strategics," the person said.

In 2011, Vodafone had announced a foray into the fixed line business along with instituting a business solutions unit that showcased global connections and offerings such as RFID tracking. The business was expected to treble by the year ended March from about 8-10% of revenue in 2011. However, as the telecom major gears up towards its initial public offer, bankers said it had too much debt on its books and was set to add more in the just ended spectrum auction, in which Vodafone spent Rs 20,280 crore for 4G airwaves. To lighten the balance sheet, the British parent of the company converted debt worth Rs 47,700 crore and decided that the Indian arm would divest all non-core assets, the data centre included.

Tata Communications, the main competitor that Vodafone had set to take out with the data centre, sold its own to a Singapore firm earlier this year. For 74% stake in 14 data centres across Asia, the company raised around Rs 4,300 crore. Vodafone's data centre is larger in capacity with better technology because it has no legacy and been geared for cloud services too, said one of the two people quoted earlier. The operator also has committed clients ready to start using the data centre from the day it is commissioned, he added.

Vodafone India, along with its parent has been expanding in the fixed line business, which is the way to the future broadband demand. However, storage and data centre require separate technology teams.

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Vodafone mulls selling Rs 12 crore data centre

Unknown 10 October 2016

Apple Inc. won an appeals court ruling that reinstates a patent-infringement verdict it won against Samsung Electronics Co., including for its slide-to-unlock feature for smartphones and tablets.
In an 8-3 ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a three-judge panel was wrong to throw out the $119.6 million (roughly Rs. 795 crores) verdict in February. Instead, it ordered the trial judge to consider whether the judgment should be increased based on any intentional infringement by Samsung.
The decision Friday comes less than a week before the US Supreme Court considers another case Apple had filed against Samsung. That case, to be argued Tuesday in Washington, focuses on how much Samsung should pay for copying patented designs for Apple's iPhone.
Together, the two cases are the remnants of a global legal battle between the world's biggest makers of smartphones that began in April 2011 and at one point spanned four continents.
In this case, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed patents for the slide-to-unlock feature, autocorrect and a way to detect phone numbers so they can be tapped to make phone calls. The bulk of the award, $98.7 million, was for the detection patent that the earlier panel said wasn't infringed. The February decision also said the other two patents were invalid.
'Substantial Evidence'
That was a wrong decision, the court ruled Friday, because it relied on issues that were never raised on appeal or on information that was beyond the trial record.
"The jury verdict on each issue is supported by substantial evidence in the record," Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore wrote for the majority.
The opinion was a surprise - the court never announced that it would consider the case before all active judges prior to issuing the opinion. In a dissent, Circuit Judge Timothy Dyk objected to the full court opting to take on the case without allowing additional legal arguments, saying the majority opinion results in "profound changes" in the analysis of whether patents cover obvious variations of earlier ideas.
The three judges who objected to the majority opinion were the same ones who had thrown out the verdict in February.
Dyk said the panel "has continuingly expressed willingness, and indeed desire" to remove the information that the majority objected to, saying it wasn't necessary to the original decision.
The Federal Circuit handles all patent appeals in the US, so its decisions have broad ramifications for how cases are handled in the courts and before the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co, 15-1171, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).

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Apple Wins Appeal Reinstating $119.6 Million Samsung Verdict Over Slide-to-Unlock Patent

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Samsung has suspended production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones following reports of fires in replacement devices, South Korean media said on Monday, a further setback for the tech giant trying to manage its worst ever phone recall crisis.
Samsung's decision to temporarily halt Galaxy Note 7 production was done in cooperation with authorities in China and the United States, as two US carriers have stopped exchanging or selling new Galaxy Note 7 phones, Yonhap News Agency cited an unnamed source at a Samsung partner firm as saying.
Samsung did not immediately comment on the Yonhap report.
Problems with replacements for the Galaxy Note 7 model would create a new and potentially costly chapter to a global scandal which has hurt the reputation of the world's biggest smartphone maker. It also could add new dangers for consumers.

AT&T, the No.2 US wireless carrier, said on Sunday it will stop exchanging new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones due to reports of fires from replacement devices that Samsung has said used safe batteries.
No.3 wireless carrier T-Mobile US said it was temporarily halting sales of new Galaxy Note 7s as well as exchanges while Samsung investigated "multiple reports of issues" with its flagship device.
T-Mobile offered customers who brought in their Galaxy Note 7s a $25 credit on their phone bill.
Samsung announced on September 2 a global recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s in 10 markets including the United States due to faulty batteries causing some of the phones to catch fire.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Production Halted After Replacement Units Catch Fire

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Reliance Jio today announced a partnership with Apple to offer iPhone customers in India a number of offers, including a year of complimentary Jio service worth Rs. 18,000 for retail customers and a 25 percent discount for enterprise customers.
Those who buy a new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus as well as the existing iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone SE from a Reliance retail store or Apple authorized store will be eligible for the offer. All Jio users currently benefit from free service under the Reliance Jio Welcome Offer, so the one year of free service kicks in as soon as that offer expires, on December 31 2016. That means those who buy now will get almost 15 months of free service.
In particular, users will get the benefits of Jio's Rs. 1499 monthly plan: unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice calls, 20GB of 4G data, unlimited 4G data usage at night, 40GB of Wi-Fi data at Jio hotspots, unlimited SMS, and subscription to Jio's apps. Reliance pegs the value of all this at Rs. 18,000.
Enterprise customers will be eligible for a 25 percent discount and a special tariff plan, but further details of this offer are not available yet. The discount will be upfront rather than implemented as a cashback offer, sources told Gadgets 360. Details will be made available on Jio's website in a few days' time.
Sources also indicated that iPhones will not be locked to the Jio network in any way, and that customers are free to use other service providers if they do not want to take advantage of the free service. However, stocks of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are running low, and those who haven't pre-booked might not find their preferred colour and capacity available.

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Reliance Jio iPhone Users to Get Additional 12 Months of Free Service

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