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TECHNOLOGY Monday 23 January 2017

Samsung: Note 7 battery design, manufacturing caused fires

YOUKYUNG LEE tion of the various problems
AP Technology Writer boiled down to the rela-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — tively large batteries not
Samsung Electronics Co. fitting well into the phones,
said Monday that prob- and not enough insulating
lems with the design and material inside.
manufacturing of batteries U.S. companies UL and
in its Galaxy Note 7 smart- Exponent examined the
phones caused them to batteries and the German
overheat and burst into fire. company TUV Rheinland
The announcement of re- analyzed the supply chain
sults from the company’s as part of the latest investi-
investigation into one of gation, Samsung said.
its worst product fiascos Though it faulted batteries
comes three months after from its suppliers, the com-
the flagship phone was dis- pany said it was “taking
continued. responsibility for our failure
Seven-hundred research- to ultimately identify and
ers and engineers tested verify the issues arising out
more than 200,000 devices of the battery design and
and more than 30,000 bat- manufacturing process.”
teries and replicated what The company has recalled
happened with the Note 7 3.06 million Note 7 phones.
phones, the world’s biggest The recalls began in Sep- In this Sept. 2, 2016 file photo, a Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is displayed at
smartphone maker said in tember after reports the the headquarters of South Korean mobile carrier KT in Seoul, South Korea.
a statement. phones were overheating Associated Press
Samsung faulted design and catching fire. Samsung placements also caught through early 2017. The company has said it
and manufacturing errors blamed a flaw in lithium fire. So Samsung perma- Samsung has taken heat is planning the release of
in two different battery batteries from one of its two nently dropped the pre- for its handling of the recall its next generation Galaxy
types by two different man- suppliers. mium phone in October. It and its hasty, apparently phones. To do so, it needed
ufacturers. New Note 7s with differ- estimates the problems will incomplete initial investiga- to definitively resolve the
A highly technical explana- ent batteries issued as re- cost it at least $5.3 billion tion into what went wrong. mystery over the Note 7.q

U.S. sues Oracle, says it pays white men more than others

BARBARA ORTUTAY employment opportunity bor Department also sued
AP Technology Writer practices at its headquar- Google , saying the com-
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. ters in Redwood Shores, pany has refused to pro-
Department of Labor has California. According the vide the department with
filed a lawsuit against Ora- suit, Oracle has refused to employee compensation
cle, claiming that the tech- comply with the agency’s records and other informa-
nology giant has a “sys- “routine requests” for em- tion as part of an audit de-
temic practice” of paying ployment data and re- signed to ensure it isn’t dis-
white male workers more cords. criminating against workers
than their non-white and “As a federal contractor, based on gender or race.
female counterparts with Oracle is prohibited from Oracle, Google and oth-
the same job titles. engaging in employment er technology companies
discrimination on the basis have made public com-
This June 18, 2012, file photo shows Oracle headquarters in Red-
wood City, Calif. of race, color, sex, sexual mitments to improving gen-
Associated Press orientation or gender iden- der and racial diversity in
The suit also says that the In a statement, Oracle tity or national origin and is recent years.
company favors Asian Corp. on Wednesday required to take affirmative But change has been slow
workers in its recruiting and called the lawsuit “politi- action to ensure that equal to come, and the com-
hiring practices for product cally motivated, based on employment opportunity is panies continue to be
development and other false allegations and wholly provided to applicants and dominated by white (and
technical roles, which re- without merit.” employees in all aspects of sometimes Asian) men, es-
sulted in hiring discrimina- The Labor Department said employment,” the Labor pecially in technical and
tion against non-Asian ap- the lawsuit is the result of a Department said. leadership positions.q
plicants. review of Oracle’s equal Earlier this month, the La-