In 2013, Facebook offered Android users the option of having it take over their home screen by installing the Facebook Home app and paying a two-year subscription fee of $99. This was the height of Facebook’s success before the backlash about privacy and a lot of people were tempted to give the company even more access to their device.
Those who did soon regretted it. The app drained your phone’s battery and data plan, hid other apps and filled your screen with unending notifications. The price dropped to 99 cents only a month after its release, and after multiple attempts to fix the problems, the whole thing was scrapped. Amazon’s smartphone offering was not the smartest in the bunch.
HP Touchpad
Another competitor who was trying to get a foothold in the tablet market was HP. They released the HP Touchpad in 2011 and put a lot of money and effort into promoting it. Before the product was even available, the company held a special event to announce it, but the time between the announcement and its release was too long and consumer interest waned, with no one exactly sure when they would arrive in stores.
Although the tablet wasn’t bad, due to low sales HP must have felt that it couldn’t compete with Apple. They announced that the Touchpad was going to be discontinued after only a month and a half on the market. The prices immediately went way down, and you could purchase one for only 99$. Ironically, in the end, the demand was extremely high for these discounted tablets. The outlook for this expensive gadget looked bright, but then the clouds rolled in.
Google Glass
The futuristic Google Glass was an incredibly anticipated and highly buzzed product. It was released in 2013 and hyped as technology that you could wear. Over time, however, the reality of Google Glass became apparent and the excitement definitely waned as its shortcoming came to light. The glasses, for instance, could not be worn in public places like movie theatres because they are always able to shoot video and take pictures.
Not only does that sound a little creepy and bring up privacy issues, but the glasses were also soon found to be redundant. Why would you need an expensive computer inside your glasses, when you already have everything you need in the form of a smartphone in your pocket, which is more convenient and can be put away as needed. This app may bear a successful name, but it was anything but.
Amazon Fire Phone
Amazon had some success with its affordable and high-quality Fire tablets, so the logical next step was for them to release a smartphone. They came up with the Amazon Fire Phone, which was produced and released in a rush in 2014 and it showed. The first thing that surprised consumers was the high price and the second was its limited functionality.
The phone had a hefty price tag of $650, which is pretty much the same price as a new iPhone, but many apps wouldn’t work on it. Users complained that they couldn’t even use basic things like Google Maps. The phone’s main selling point, 3D face scanning technology, was dismissed by users as a gimmick and it only took Amazon one year to see that the phone was a major fail, and have it discontinued. They have since stayed out of the smartphone game, at least for now... This product flamed hot and went out with a bang.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is infamous all over the world for catching on fire and exploding. They were launched in July 2016 and were recalled twice, and only one day after the second recall the phones were scrapped for good. At first, it was believed, or at least claimed, that bad batteries were to blame for the overheating and that they simply needed to be replaced.
Things went from bad to worse, when the FAA banned the phones from being used on flights because they were a fire hazard. By November 2016, Samsung recalled the phones for good. The company has not given up on making smartphones. Their current model is the Galaxy Note 8 and there is no news that has any similar combustible issues.