14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung decided to recall 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones at the start of the month, and it seems that replacement units will be available next week in some countries. Meanwhile, authorities have started to advise Note 7 owners to power off their devices when in public.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from New York advised Galaxy Note 7 owners to power off their devices while on the subway or in buses, according to the NY Daily News. Many reports of smartphones catching fire have surfaced lately and the authority wishes to limit the number of incidents.
The MTA hasn't received any reports of flaming phones yet, but the agency is putting the safety of riders first. The MTA has also rolled out buses with charging ports and warned Galaxy Note 7 owners against plugging in their devices. The New Jersey Transit authority has also requested riders to turn off their Galaxy Note 7 devices before entering a station or boarding a train or bus.
The FAA also issued a warning against charging Note 7 phones in flight
In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning a few days ago, urging all Galaxy Note 7 owners to keep their phones off during flight and not place them in the checked baggage. Galaxy Note 7 units weren't specifically banned from flights. Similar warnings were issued in many other countries around the world, in order to avoid any more incidents with Note 7 batteries catching fire.
Just yesterday, we reported that Samsung might have a quick fix for the Galaxy Note 7battery issue. Since the battery starts catching fire while the phone is charging, the company is looking into the possibility of reducing the battery's charging limit to 60% with an OTA update. It remains to be seen if Samsung actually implements this measure, but it could surely be another way to reduce the number of potential incidents.