【Landlady’s Loose Legs】

Even though the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is Landlady’s Loose Legsdead and buried, its ghost continues to haunt the smartphone market.

The South Korean government published the results of its own investigation into the explosive phone Monday, according to the The Korea Herald. Like Samsung, the state-run Korean Agency for Technology Standards concluded that the Note7's volatility stemmed from its battery. As a result, the government has announced new, stronger regulations for smartphone battery safety.

The Agency tested 14 overheated Note 7s, 46 stable phones and 169 batteries provided by Samsung over a three-month period. The tests showed the batteries exhibited "factors that cause explosions," but said there were no flaws with the Note7s themselves. In other words, there wasn't an issue with the phone's construction—just with the battery it contained.

The South Korean government plans to revise a current law, which only requires batteries to be inspected once before mass production. The revision, which should be in place this July, will require tests every two years.

The phone recall process will be updated, too. The government will be able to advise consumers against products even before an official recall is instituted by the company in question.

These safety standards are now in line with those of the International Electrotechnical Commission and European Union—but in the near future, the SK government will add new test items to bring standards closer to those used in the United States and Japan.

Streamlining testing for smartphones and batteries is an important move, even if it is in response to such a wide-reaching failure like the Galaxy Note7. If the phones of the future are safer and better vetted as a result, the explosive handset's legacy could actually be a positive one.

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