Samsung will kill remaining Note 7's in the US on Dec 19 (update: Europe implementing similar move)

Update 2: In addition to rolling out an update that will prevent US devices from charging, Samsung is taking a similar move for the European market. In these markets the update will limit the battery to just 30% capacity. This is basically enough to make it usable in emergencies, but it’s a pretty crippling update that will make the phone’s battery life so puny that it will be rendered unusable for most users.  More details can be found here. 

Update: Samsung has now confirmed that starting on December 19th, it will roll out an update that will prevent US Note 7 devices from charging, or working as mobile devices. You can find more details here.

Original post: A new report claims that all remaining Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the US will basically become useless on Thursday, December 15.  The company may potentially release an update to the phone that could disable the battery from charging.

The report comes from The Verge, which states that a Note 7 owner on the UScellular received the following message on his device:

As of December 15th, Samsung will modify the software to prevent the Galaxy Note 7 from charging. The phone will no longer work.

So far, UScellular has not issued a comment on this report, and Samsung declined to comment. However, it certainly follows the pattern the company has followed to encourage people who still own the Galaxy Note 7 to turn in their phones, following its recall in October due to many of the devices exploding. Wireless carriers in Australia, New Zealand and most recently Canada have announced plans to cut off access to the Note 7 on that date as well.

Samsung previously released an update to the Galaxy Note 7 that restricted its battery charging to 60 percent of its full charge in the US. The company also stated that about 85 percent of US Note 7 owners have already turned in or traded the device as part of the recall order. It would appear that the few remaining holdouts will soon have a very expensive paperweight.

Are you still holding onto your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and, if so, will this reported move to disable the battery make you finally trade it in?