We\u2019ve all been there. You pick up your phone, see a notification about an update, and think, “I\u2019ll get to that later.” But what if I told you that skipping those updates could cost you much more than just a slow phone? In a recent tragedy in Australia, an unsupported phone was linked to a death\u2014an outcome that could have been avoided with a simple update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recent case in Australia has served as a grim reminder of why keeping your phone up-to-date is more important than we realize. A person in need of urgent medical assistance was unable to dial 000 (the Australian equivalent of 911) due to their Samsung Galaxy phone being unsupported, reports The Register<\/a>. It didn\u2019t matter that the phone was capable of making calls\u2014without recent security updates, the device failed to connect to emergency services. By the time the person was able to dial emergency services from another device, it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn’t just a one-off, and the problem isn\u2019t limited to a single phone model. Samsung<\/a> Galaxy devices, particularly older models like the Galaxy S6 and S7, have been flagged for this exact issue. These phones stopped receiving security updates, which meant they couldn’t make critical calls in emergency situations. The impact of this goes beyond just one individual; there are an estimated 50,000 unsupported devices in Australia alone that could face similar issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n