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Verizon changes its mind and will kill Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 on January 5th

Verizon changes its mind and will kill Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 on January 5th

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Waiting until after the holidays

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Verizon has just announced that it plans to roll out Samsung’s upcoming Note 7 update, which permanently stops the recalled smartphone from charging and disables its wireless radios, on January 5th. Only last week, the leading US carrier took a controversial stance when it said it would “not be taking part in this update because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 users that do not have another device to switch to.”

The company was particularly concerned about nuking the Note 7 during the holiday travel season, something that its US rivals also seemed to take into consideration when scheduling a roll-out date for the update. AT&T is waiting until the very same day. Sprint will release it on January 8th. And T-Mobile’s going first among major US carriers on December 27th. Verizon still seems to think it’s making the right decision pushing things off a bit for the same reasons. “We want to make sure you can contact family, first responders, and emergency medical professionals during the holiday travel season.”

The January 5th date clears the major holidays and offers customers yet more warning — in case they’re still somehow unaware of the year’s biggest technology blunder — that the end is coming. Return the phone. Please. Let’s be done with this.