What is it with technology failing recently? Why are there so many phones exploding and what is up with the new iPhone? Continue reading to find out.
Phones have been in the news recently, with the new iPhone 7 and the Samsung Note 7 having some interesting features. The iPhone 7 has some interesting design choices, but they were intentional. On the other hand, the Samsung Note 7 has an exploding battery. Well, let me explain that.
The iPhone 7 is fairly similar to its predecessor, the iPhone 6. This new phone has a fingerprint reader, two cameras, and the beautiful new feature of not having an auxiliary port. The aux port, or headphone jack as it is often referred to, While you could spend the extra $160 USD for the "Air Buds," which are basically wireless earbuds that you are going to lose, you also have the option of buying a small dongle to plug into the phone that lets you use your earbuds, headphones, or other device. The only issue of this is that you cannot charge it while you use it. Did they include wireless charging, like some Samsung phones? Well, no.
On the topic of Samsung, there is an interesting new feature with their new phone, the Note 7. This phone has the amazing ability to start fires at random. Isn't that great? There is actually a reason this happens, and it is not just a flaw with the company. To understand why this phone can explode, you must first understand how the electronics work. Many of those who keep up to date on this blog will already have some idea how this works, but here is a brief explanation for those who don't. Lithium ion and lithium polymer batteries are actually fairly safe when manufactured correctly. These lithium cells are known as "solid state" batteries. This means that the battery is made of mostly solid materials. While solid state batteries are generally the safest and least reactive type of batteries, they can discharge in a rather violent way. I have personally dealt with a lithium cell that came out of a tablet. The battery had been over charged and was starting to swell. Usually, when this happens, the battery will simply vent the pressure out the back and fail in a safe manner, but this can only happen when the battery is given space to expand. If it is confined, such as in a phone, the pressure can build up and eventually cause an explosion. These lithium batteries need a small charging circuit in order to charge properly. This circuit is usually fairly simple and always includes a basic computer chip. Manufacturing errors are not very common in the electronics field, but when they do happen, disastrous situations may arise. It is possible that there was an error in manufacturing that was not caught by the factory, and the flawed batteries were sent to the Samsung manufacturing plant and were installed into the Note 7's. And that is the reason you should always test your batteries before selling them.
So, what are your thoughts? Do you have a Samsung Note 7 or an iPhone 7? Let me know what you think of it and stay tuned for more science and technology news.
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