[Quest:] Welcome back, if the risk of explosion and fire were not enough to make you stop using your Galaxy Note 7, assuming you haven't already returned it and if not why not. Samsung is going to do the job for you. They're releasing a update that will stop the phone from fully charging. It means the device will be dead and can't overheat and explode. The idea is you'll charge it, but it will never charge more than 30 percent and it is necessary, they say, because some users have refused to exchange their phone. However, it seems good but Verizon is refusing to send the update to customers. The carrier says it is adding a risk to the user because if an emergency their phone doesn't work and they have not have another phone. What a mess. Shelly Palmer is with me, host of "Digital Living."
[Shelly Palmer, Host Of "digital Living":] How are you?
[Quest:] Does the Samsung update make sense? In some countries, the update literally stops the phone from operating at all. Isn't that better?
[Palmer:] They first issued an update that got the phone to charge just to 60 percent. And they got 93 percent of the phones back. That is incredible and now they want the rest of them. To encourage you to send back the rest of them they're putting this software update out. Verizon doesn't want to do it but all of the other carriers are going to do it, and they want you to send the phone back. That's what they want.
[Quest:] It's a question of go, do the update, the phone won't charge, it will be useless.
[Palmer:] You are not going to have a choice. It will happen automatically. They really want the phones back. I know you just said that that at the low charge rate it's not a safety risk, but in fact it is a safety risk until you send it back. It's a recalled product, it should no longer be out in the wild.
[Quest:] Why don't they just use the update that stops the phone from operating as a phone, breaks the phone.
[Palmer:] Not being Samsung I can't tell you why, but this is as close as you're going to get. Once you unplug it, it's not going to work. Verizon say it's is a safety issue, because you have to be able to dial 911. It is a safety issue, send the phone back. But Samsung just wants an abundance of caution. They want their phones back, so they're going to make them almost unusable.
[Quest:] We can sit here and talk about this, but how damaging has this been to Samsung?
[Palmer:] It is hard for me to tell how other people are thinking. From my perspective, they did exactly the right thing. They got out ahead of this thing in fact they got in trouble for getting out ahead of it. They said we have a problem, it's been a recalled problem. They got 93 percent of the phones back, and they just want to get past it. So, I think it is not going to hurt them that much.
[Quest:] No, but what it does do is as we used to say in this thing dog bites boy. But what it does do, it creates more stories. You end up with Samsung washing machines blowing up, and Samsung this, that, and the other.
[Palmer:] I don't know if I personally would have done this particular update and brought this back into the news, but I think they are so they just so want them back and they want to do the right thing. I think ultimately it will not hurt them at all. I think their products are great and I don't think it's going to hurt them.
[Quest:] So, you're a fan?
[Palmer:] Yes.
[Quest:] Ready for your blood pressure to go up?
[Palmer:] Yes, not again, Richard, please, the blackberry thing, I know you love it, there is nothing bad about it, but you have to join at least the stone age. Come this far with us, seriously.
[Quest:] You will see the light someday. "MAKE, CREATE, AND INNOVATE" after you have had a break and a chance to think about me.