14 DAY TRIAL // Bad news for those who still haven't returned their Galaxy Note 7 units, as Samsung has just confirmed that it will disable all phablets in the United States.
We reported a few days ago that Samsung could take drastic measures against customers who still keep their Galaxy Note 7 phones instead of taking advantage of the exchange program in the U.S.
Today, the South Korean company issued an official statement confirming the information leaked a few days ago, but with a slightly different deadline: December 19 instead of 15.
According to Samsung, a software update will be rolled out to all Galaxy Note 7 phones in the United States starting December 19. The update should be distributed within 30 days until all devices capture it.
In case you're wondering what this update will do, it's pretty simple: it will turn your Galaxy Note 7 smartphone into a brick.
The software update is meant to prevent all Galaxy Note 7 phablets in the country from charging and will eliminate their ability to work as mobile devices.
“Together with our carrier partners, we will be notifying consumers through multiple touchpoints to encourage any remaining Galaxy Note7 owners to participate in the program and to take advantage of the financial incentives available,” states Samsung in the announcement.
Samsung continues to offer Galaxy Note 7 customers various incentives, including full refunds, so if you haven't returned your phone yet, now would be a good time to avoid carrying a brick with you after December 19.
Keep in mind that Samsung will release a forced update, so there's no way to prevent it from being installed on the Galaxy Note 7 aside from keeping the phone off all the time.
In the same piece of news, Samsung announced that thanks to the U.S. Note 7 Refund and Exchange Program, it managed to gather more than 93% of all recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices in the United States.