LG Issues G Watch Update To Alleviate Skin Irritation Issue
LG thinks it may have found a fix for an annoying issue that was causing corrosion build up on its LG G Watch and subsequent skin irritation. Some users are reporting an over-the-air (OTA) update that flashes the firmware from KMV78V to KMV78Y. There doesn't appear to be an official changelog associated with the OTA update, though LG confirmed the primary purpose to stop the corrosion buildup on exposed POGO pins on the back of the smartwatch.
"Recently it has come to our attention that a small number of G Watch devices have been reported to have developed discoloration and residue buildup on the terminal pins located on the back. While completely safe and unlikely to affect charging, LG will be rolling out a maintenance release over the next few days that will disable the current when the G Watch is not in the charging dock," an LG representative told Android Police. "The maintenance release will be rolled out automatically over-the-air to all G Watch owners. We thank G Watch users for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
This is one of those instances where science is fun (or not so fun, if you've suffered skin irritation). What's been happening is a chemical process that occurs when an electrical current travels through two different materials (usually metals) and an electrolyte. In this case, that electrolyte is human sweat. The end result is galvanic corrosion.
What LG's update does is disable the current while the smartphone is not connected to its charging cradle. With the absence of current, there no longer exists a chance for the chemical reaction, which itself was leading to minor burns and discomfort.
"Recently it has come to our attention that a small number of G Watch devices have been reported to have developed discoloration and residue buildup on the terminal pins located on the back. While completely safe and unlikely to affect charging, LG will be rolling out a maintenance release over the next few days that will disable the current when the G Watch is not in the charging dock," an LG representative told Android Police. "The maintenance release will be rolled out automatically over-the-air to all G Watch owners. We thank G Watch users for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
This is one of those instances where science is fun (or not so fun, if you've suffered skin irritation). What's been happening is a chemical process that occurs when an electrical current travels through two different materials (usually metals) and an electrolyte. In this case, that electrolyte is human sweat. The end result is galvanic corrosion.
What LG's update does is disable the current while the smartphone is not connected to its charging cradle. With the absence of current, there no longer exists a chance for the chemical reaction, which itself was leading to minor burns and discomfort.
