Samsung caps Note 7 battery at 15 percent in Korea
Samsung Electronics will commence an over-the-air software update in South Korea starting next week that will cap Galaxy Note 7 batteries at 15 percent, the company said.
The South Korean tech giant has recalled 94 percent of the flagship phones sold in its home country so far and has sent notice to those still using them.
The update will commence on Monday January 9.
Earlier, the company commenced updates that capped the battery charging to 0 percent in Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines, where the recall is almost complete.
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In the US, T Mobile begin the 0 percent update on December 28, while Verizon and AT&T will deploy the update Thursday, and Sprint on Sunday.
In Europe, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, it commenced updates that cap it at 30 percent.
Samsung ended its exchange and refund program last month. The company plans to offer a 50 percent discount to users when they buy the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8.
The company is planning to announce the cause of the fires this month, before the unveiling of the Galaxy S8.
In Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the company blocked access to networks of the remaining devices in December.
Samsung recently advised the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that as of December 16, 2016, its recall progress for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had reached 85 percent.
"The ACCC urges consumers to respond to the recall," a spokesperson told ZDNet at the time.
To speed up the recall process, Samsung was offering Australians an incentive for handing in their Note 7s, with the likes of Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and Virgin handing out a AU$250 account credit upon surrendering the device.
Samsung Electronics Australia is providing weekly progress reports to the ACCC and the watchdog said is satisfied with the current return rate, but will continue to monitor progress of the recall.
The most popular Samsung device in 2016, according to mobile development company Apteligent, was the Samsung Galaxy S5, claiming 6.12 percent of the total traffic coming from Samsung devices.
The Apteligent Mobile Year in Review report also found that the residual Samsung Note 7 use is still higher than the LG V20, OnePlus 3T, and the HTC 10 Evo (Bolt) combined.