Samsung Estimates 500,000 Note7 Replacements Will Be Available Wednesday

Samsung Electronics America estimates about 500,000 units of replacement Galaxy Note7s have arrived in the U.S. and will be ready for distribution starting Wednesday to consumers who want to trade in their originals under the voluntary recall program worked out with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (see 1609150069), the company said in a Tuesday statement. A refund option also is available under the recall for Note7 owners who don't want a replacement. A CPSC notice Thursday said about a million Note7 devices sold in the U.S. would be affected by the recall, which the agency said was precipitated by 92 reports of the device overheating or catching fire. Samsung also announced the rollout of a software update for new Note7 devices. The software updates will display a green battery icon on the status bar on the top right hand of the screen, Samsung said. The green icon indicates consumers have a new Galaxy Note7 with an unaffected battery, it said. "For those not heeding" the recall notice, a separate software update also "will be pushed to all recalled devices," it said. "Once installed, users will be prompted with a safety notice that urges owners to power down and exchange their recalled device. The notice will appear every time a user powers up or charges their device."