NEW YORK: Samsung’s fiasco with its fire-prone Note 7 phone has pushed its rival LG to take additional precautions with its next smartphone.
Samsung recalled millions of Note 7 phones after dozens overheated and caught on fire . Samsung blamed numerous problems with its batteries and announced tighter quality controls and more rigorous testing.
LG said it’s doubling the separation between the battery’s positive and negative chambers to reduce the risk of a short. Samsung’s investigators found that overly thin separators were partly to blame for the Note 7 problems.
LG also redesigned the phone’s interior to separate the two main sources of heat — the main processor and the display driver — and turned other components into heat sinks to dissipate heat.
“We started by placing these two (sources) as far apart as possible and then built the phone around it,” LG spokesman Frank Lee said.
Even though the company hasn’t had the types of failures that Samsung experienced with the Note 7 batteries, Lee said wireless carriers are seeking greater safety assurances for all phones they sell.
“What’s important for them is to make sure that they present to their subscribers a quality, stable product,” Lee said in an interview. “This caught the entire market off-guard.”
LG unveiled its next phone, the G6, ahead of Monday’s opening of the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain. Samsung has said it’s delaying its next major phone, the Galaxy S8, until after the show.
LG has a tiny share of a worldwide smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung. LG didn’t gain significantly following the Note 7 recall.
The G6 will have a 5.7-inch screen, though the size of the phone itself is about the same as last year’s 5.3-inch G5. LG achieves this partly by adopting an 18:9 aspect ratio, meaning the display’s height is twice the width. The tallest phone displays typically max out at 16:9. When held horizontally, the G6 offers a wider image than regular high-definition TV, but it’s not as wide as what most movie theaters offer.
LG is matching major rivals in offering water and dust resistance, though in doing so, it eliminated a replaceable battery and the ability to swap in new modules , such as better audio. Last year, LG cited both features as evidence that it was setting itself apart from rivals as phone innovation slows down. The G6 does retain a wide-angle camera , which is still uncommon to find in phones.
LG didn’t announce prices and release dates.
New LG phone influenced by Samsung’s Note 7 troubles
New LG phone influenced by Samsung’s Note 7 troubles
Oman airport passenger traffic rises 2.8% in 2025
RIYADH: Passenger traffic through airports in Oman increased by 2.8 percent in 2025, reaching 14.9 million travelers by the end of December, up from 14.5 million passengers a year earlier, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information and reported by Oman News Agency.
Despite the rise in passenger volumes, total flight movements across the country’s airports declined by 2.8 percent to 104,510 flights in 2025, compared with 107,546 flights during the same period in 2024, indicating higher load factors and network optimization by airlines.
At Muscat International Airport, international flights fell by 4.5 percent to 82,913 in 2025 from 86,797 a year earlier. Nevertheless, international passenger numbers rose by 1.3 percent to 11.8 million, compared with 11.6 million in 2024. Domestic activity at Muscat showed stronger momentum, with flights increasing 6.6 percent to 9,606 from 9,009, while domestic passenger numbers climbed 12 percent to 1.3 million, up from 1.1 million.
At Salalah Airport, international flights declined 2.4 percent to 4,886 in 2025, compared with 5,008 in 2024. International passenger numbers remained broadly stable at 678,591, slightly higher than 678,402 a year earlier. Domestic operations recorded robust growth, with flights rising 14.3 percent to 6,227 from 5,450 and passenger numbers increasing 17.7 percent to 1,023,529, up from 869,954.
Sohar Airport saw a sharp contraction in international traffic, as flights dropped 77.8 percent to 110 in 2025 from 495 in 2024. International passenger numbers plunged 99.1 percent to 390 travelers, compared with 44,897 a year earlier. Domestic flights at Sohar declined 9.1 percent to 150 from 165, while passenger numbers fell 21.8 percent to 18,247, down from 23,331.
At Duqm Airport, domestic flights edged down 0.6 percent to 618 in 2025 from 622 in 2024. Passenger numbers slipped marginally by 0.4 percent to 60,893, compared with 61,137 the previous year.
Overall, the figures reflect steady growth in passenger demand across Oman’s main airports, driven largely by domestic travel, even as airlines reduced flight frequencies during the year.
