Four days ago a story spread across the web that pointed fingers at Samsung for breaking 3rd party accessory compatibility on the Note 3. The update in question was the Android 4.4 KitKat update that was pushed for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The accessory primarily in question was a flip view cover case manufactured by Spigen. Now it would seem that Samsung is fully taking responsibility.
Originally Samsung’s response to the information included this sentence:
A correlation between the Android version 4.4 and the supposed incompatibility of third-party accessories does not exist.
Just 4 days later, it would seem that they were mistaken. It is now apparent that a “software bug” is to blame for the issue and they will be issuing a software update shortly.
We have currently identified a software compatibility issue with the Galaxy Note 3 update to Android 4.4 (KitKat) and select 3rd party accessories. A software update will be available shortly. We are committed to offering a diverse and reliable mobile experience for all customers, providing continued support and solutions for any issues that arise with product updates for both Samsung manufactured and third-party accessories.
Quite the turnaround Samsung. While we would fully understand why they would and still might choose to drop some of the compatibility of 3rd party companies, it isn’t necessarily good practice to do it without warning. It has been rumored for sometime that Samsung will be utilizing a proprietary chip and license out the tech to 3rd party companies to help ensure quality and user experience control. Much like Apple does.
Regardless if there was actually a software bug, or if Samsung watched how much bad press they got from it and changed their minds, it is nice to see a resolution underway.
Source: Arstechnica
Img via Spigen
