Samsung Galaxy S8 red-tinted screens: Software update to fix the problem soon

As some consumers have complained of red-tinted screens on their newly-launched Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, the Electronics giant said it is coming up with an unusually early software update to fix the problem.

Last year, the South Korean tech firm had withdrawn the Galaxy Note 7 over the issue of exploding batteries. The repeated incidents came as humiliation for the company and hammered its once-stellar reputation. In that scenario, the launch of the Galaxy S8 is a key step for Samsung as it seeks to move on.

The Galaxy S8 started over-the-counter sales in the US and its home market but South Korean users who pre-ordered the phones complained their screens displayed an unusually reddish hue.

Online images of their phones went viral on social media but Samsung denied a hardware flaw and maintained that users could manually adjust the colour range according to their preferences.

As more users voiced doubts, Samsung said today that a software update would fix the problem by allowing them to readjust colours over a wider range than at present.

“Samsung... has decided to release a software update starting from this week which will provide consumers with a further enhanced ability to adjust the colour setting to their preference,” it said in a statement.

Samsung—the world’s largest maker of smartphones— has pinned its hopes on the Galaxy S8 to compete against archrival Apple’s iPhone after last year’s Note 7 disaster.

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The recall debacle cost Samsung billions of dollars in lost profits and hammered its global credibility, forcing it to apologise to consumers and postpone the S8 launch.

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(With inputs from PTI)