Samsung Galaxy Note 7 New Software Update Limits Battery Life To Prevent Overheating

Samsung plans to launch a software update that it hopes will prevent its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from overheating. However, the software update will limit the phone’s battery life to 60 percent.

The tech giant reportedly put out an ad in a South Korean newspaper offering the update to Note 7 users who chose to ignore the recall notice and are continuing to use their phones. The South Korea-based company recalled nearly 2.5 million of its latest Note 7 models after it confirmed cases of the phone catching fire, mostly when the phone is on charge.

“It is a measure to put consumer safety first but we apologize for causing inconvenience,” the ad read. It added that the update will be available for South Korean users from Sept. 20.

Samsung had asked its South Korean customers to visit their nearest service center where they can drop off their Note 7 for servicing and pick up a replacement phone for temporary use while Samsung replaces the battery in their original phone.

Local media reported that the company gave free pizzas to all its employees at local handset shops and mobile carriers to make up for them having to work during holidays and for handling the massive recall process.

“We ate the pizza among a few of us,” one of the employees Lee In-tae reportedly said. “We have to do all the recalls here, do all the work and listen to all the bad things. But it feels like [Samsung] is trying to make up for it with that,” he added, referring to the free pizza.

According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, Samsung is in talks with other carriers around the world regarding the implementation of the new software update.

There have been 70 confirmed cases of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones catching fire in the United States alone. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned passengers against bringing the new smartphone on board and from packing the phone in their luggage saying that the risk of ignition was too great to take a chance on.

“Samsung continues to ensure that consumer safety remains our top priority. We are asking users to power down their Galaxy Note7s and exchange them now,” Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement. “New Note7 replacement devices will be issued to exchange program participants upon completion of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission process. In the interim, consumers can return their Note7 for another device.”