Location Line on Samsung Galaxy Note 7

I spent about an hour with the new device last week at an exclusive briefing for the business media, and though that's hardly enough time to provide any sort of informed review, seven things about the Galaxy Note7 stand out. One of the Note series' defining features, its "S Pen" stylus, received a significant upgrade along with the Note7.

The S Pen is now just as water and dust resistant as the phone itself. The past couple of Galaxy S and Note phones have had water and dust protection ratings of IP68, which means the devices are "completely protected against dust, and [are] water-resistant in up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes," according to Samsung.

But now the S Pen is also protected, and that means you can write on-screen in the rain or even while the device is submerged in liquid. I tested the feature in a small basin of water, and it worked well. The design of the S Pen is also slightly different, with the "Air Command" actions button higher up on the pen. Its pressure-sensitive tip is slightly smaller and more precise, according to Samsung.

And it's supposed to feel even more like a traditional ballpoint pen, for an improved writing experience. You cannot insert the S Pen into its storage slot upside down. The Note 5 can be irreparably damaged if its stylus is forced into the slot backwards, but Samsung fixed this design flaw with the Note7. One of the most frequently rumored features ahead of the official Note7 announcement was a new iris scanner for secure authentication.

The related rumblings proved to be grounded in fact. The new Note7 does indeed have an iris scanner, and it uses a dedicated, front-facing infrared IR camera to capture and scan your eyes for authentication. The iris scanner works similarly to the fingerprint reader. You walk through a quick tutorial to scan and store your iris information, which is kept in the same secure element as fingerprint scans.

Agency has been investigating problems with Samsung’s top-of-the-line phone

To unlock your phone with an iris, you simply swipe a finger to trigger the IR camera, then quickly stare at a blinking red light. I wasn't able to test the feature myself, but the Samsung representative who demoed it had no problems repeatedly unlocking his Note7 with an iris scan.

Samsung says the iris scan is an even more secure biometric than a fingerprint, because it's a more complex reading and harder to fake. From an IT perspective, Samsung says organizations shouldn't hesitate to use the iris scanner, because it adds an extra layer of security. However, the feature can be disabled via MDM policies if a company wants to block the iris scanner. The new Note also has a new "secure folder" feature that lets you create a locked "container" on your phones that can't be accessed without authentication. It's essentially a more consumer-friendly version of Samsung's My Knox personal container feature.

You can also choose to hide the secure folder, so the only way it can be accessed is by drilling down into the secure folder settings. IT departments cannot disable this secure folder, but security-conscious organizations could choose to run the Note7 in "container only" mode, according to Samsung. That would block the use of the secure folder, because the device can't run a secure container within another container.

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The curved displays on Samsung's phones are designed to provide quick access to information, apps and contacts. You can slide a thumb from the outside of the screen in to pull up an edge panel, which lets you view two side-by-side columns of apps or contacts. You can also place app widgets from third-parties on the apps edge to trigger certain functions. For example, you could place a 1x1 widget from a Twitter app on the edge screen and use it to go directly to the new tweet function, instead of using the app's icon to open it and then navigate to the appropriate page.

The edge screen features are a useful edition to the Note family. However, the smooth, curved display can make the device feel somewhat slippery in hand, especially if you're not used to such a curvy phone. And it would have been nice to see some Note- or S-Pen-specific edge features instead of the same exact functionality as the GS7 edge. However, the back panel is the real difference maker. The rear side is made entirely of glass, and its sides curve at almost exactly the same angle as the front curved display.

A solid metal bezel surrounds the edges. If you close your eyes and rotate the phone, its hard to tell which side is the front and which is the back, until you feel the volume and power buttons on its side, which help determine orientation. And on October 7, a woman in Taiwan suffered a scare of her own while walking her dog in a local park when she heard a bang from her jeans pocket.

She discovered that her Galaxy Note 7 was emitting smoke. She claims to have replaced her original Samsung device on September On Friday, year-old Minnesota resident Abby Zuis discovered her replacement Note 7 was no safer than the original. I can try and slow him down if we think it will matter, or we just let him do what he keeps threatening to do and see if he does it. The same as the Kentucky man. I woke up in complete panic. Under no circumstances should you buy a Galaxy Note 7, or continue using one that you already have. The saga first began soon after the Galaxy Note 7 went on sale, and initially it was unclear exactly what was happening.

On Aug. Initially, the company was reluctant to acknowledge the delay. Early speculation pointed to a mechanical flaw involving the S-Pen, the proprietary stylus that ships with the Note 7. But evidence of a far more serious — and dangerous — problem began to emerge early this week: the potential for Note 7 devices to explode while connected to a wall charger. One documented account on social media, a YouTube video posted by user Ariel Gonzalez, appeared to show a Note 7 warped almost beyond the point of recognition.

Getting past the Note 7

Brand new phone, not even two weeks old. Be careful out there, everyone rocking the new Note 7, might catch fire. And posts on Korean social media appeared to corroborate reports. Most showed Note 7 units with severely damaged screens and charging ports. The results of those tests, the company said, were consistent with reports: some Note 7 units could explode while being charged. Out of an abundance of caution, Samsung announced a broad recall on September 2.

That recall, however, might not be the last we hear of the issue. Finally, Samsung issued a statement saying that production on the phone had been halted and that users should immediately power down their phones. The New York Times suggests that Samsung still does not know what caused issues in the Note 7, and they have been unable to reproduce the problem in tests.

And it gained market share at the expense of rivals like Apple, nabbing In light of the newest developments, though, some analysts expect a reversal. Singapore Airlines followed suit. In the U. Passengers have also been advised not to stow them in their check-in baggage. Even institutions of higher learning are exercising an abundance of caution. The bottom line is, we want it on our campus.

Still, it seems to be getting the most attention. And worse, Lithium-ion battery fires are difficult to contain. Most electrolytes burn quickly when hit by a fresh supply of air, and when the fire reaches a certain thermal threshold, the materials in the cathode begin to supply oxygen, too. More recently in , car manufacturer Tesla redesigned its cars to better protect the batteries housed within them. Preventing a battery fire is relatively straightforward and, unless you have a phone prone to exploding like the Note 7, you can usually prevent it by taking these steps.

While battery fires are more intense if the battery is fully charged, the capacity of the battery itself in no way impacts its likelihood of explosion. When the initial recall was issued, Samsung found a way to alert customers about whether they had a safe device.