A Baltimore-bound flight was forced to evacuate crew and passengers after a Samsung device began emitting smoke. The owner said the company had replaced his phone just 2 weeks prior following a recall.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Ritchie B. Tongo
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A Southwest Airlines flight was evacuated on Wednesday, apparently after a Samsung device caught fire. Around 75 people, passengers and crew members, were forced to leave the Baltimore-bound plane in Louisville, Kentucky, after the overheated Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone started emitting smoke.
No one was injured, airport authorities said.
According to the family who owned the phone, it was a replacement sent to them after a string of fires and property damage caused Samsung to issue a universal recall. Local media reported that Brian Green of Indiana noticed his phone making a popping noise before catching fire as he was shutting it down. He said Samsung had shipped it to him only two weeks prior.
The South Korean tech giant issued a statement saying it was working with authorities to confirm the authenticity of Green's claim and the cause of the problem.
"Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note 7," the company said.
Samsung, the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, was forced to recall 2.5 million of its main Note 7 phones last month when it emerged that faulty batteries were causing the devices to emit smoke. As a result, several airlines have banned the use of this particular model on their flights.
es/bw (AP, Reuters)
The rapid rise of the smartphone
Billions of people the world over couldn't imagine life without a smartphone. It's been 20 years since the first such gadget hit the markets. Here are some quirky facts and developments you might not have known.
Image: DW/M.Bösch
Impressive dinosaur
This is what the world's first smartphone looked like. The Nokia 9000 Communicator had the features of a PC, complete with office software, Web browsing and fax function. Sales started on August 15, 1996. It cost around 1400 euros - or around half that with a contract.
Image: dpa/Nokia
Lightweight, but powerful
Modern-day smartphones have come a long way. But the fact that they weigh a lot less than earlier models does not mean they can do less. In fact, today's devices have millions of times the computing power of the computers used by Apollo 11 to land on the moon.
Image: Getty Images
Unexpected side effect
There are tons of apps to ensure smartphone users never have a dull moment, but some pieces of code can also be extremely useful for authorities. Indonesians are using donated devices to detect illegal logging through software that listens for the sound of chainsaws and then triggers an alert.
Image: Getty Images
Phone turned weatherman
Researchers from networking group OpenSignal have discovered that the sensors in Android-based smartphones designed to measure battery temperature, light intensity and pressure can also be used to come up with really accurate weather reports.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Pee power
Scientists from Bristol, England, have developed a fuel cell that can generate power for smartphones "from a single visit to the toilet." You can get three hours of phone calls from 600 milliliters of urine, with bacteria turning the liquid into electricity. On a somewhat related note, close to 100,000 smartphones are dropped into toilets annually by Britons alone.
Image: Imago
Roaming about
Celine Aarons from South Florida made headlines a couple of years ago when she received the biggest ever smartphone bill. She had to pay $201,000 (180,000 euros) after a message texting marathon while on holiday in Canada. Ever heard of roaming charges?
Image: Imago
Irreversible success story
There are now about 1.9 billion smartphone users globally, and that number is still rising steadily. Worldwide 349 million units were sold in the first quarter of this year alone, marking a 3.9 percent increase over 2015. The hottest-selling phone was Samsung's Galaxy S7, with Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus coming in a close second.
