Samsung Electronics has been facing charges in Australia for apparently misleading its customers regarding one of its features on its Galaxy smartphones. And now, the company will be required to pay millions of US Dollars.

For those unaware, the Australian Federal Court Justice Brendan Murphy had ordered the South Korean tech giant to 14 million Australian Dollars (roughly 9.8 million US Dollars) within 30 days. Furthermore, the brand will have to pay an additional 140,000 US Dollars for the cost faced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which had began the investigation four years ago. The company faced the fine for misleading its smartphone customers regarding the water resistance claims for its Galaxy handsets.

These false claims were made regarding water resistance on seven Galaxy phones that were aired in 9 advertisements between the years 2016 and 2018. The models in these ads includes the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A7 (2017), Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, and Galaxy Note 8. As of right now, the smartphone maker  is not disputing these charges and has also agreed to pay the penalty amount as well.

The reason for the fines are due to Samsung showing its smartphones being using in swimming pools and seawater. However, these models were only water resistant not water proofed and would not have been able to withstand these conditions in real world situations. Furthermore, one scene even showed them charging after being wet, which in reality would’ve damaged the charging ports of these smartphones.

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The antitrust authority in Italy slapped a fine of 10 million euros (roughly 12 million US Dollars) on Apple earlier this week. The company is being fined for “aggressive and misleading” commercial practices for its iPhones.

According to an ET report, the regulators said in a statement that the Cupertino based giant had been advertising certain aspects regarding its iPhones that might not be true. The primary culprit here is the water resistance claims that the company offered. Apparently, the water resistance claim only held true in certain controlled environments, which was never clarified to its customer. In other words, real world scenarios for its water resistance did not hold up quite well, and that this false claim has been tracked down till the iPhone 8

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Furthermore, the issue also extends towards its warranty service as well. Apple added a diclaimer that stated that its iPhones were not covered under warranty if they suffere damage from liquids. This essentially tricked the customers that believed that their phones were water resistant, but could not seek support in the case of the device getting damaged due to exposure to liquids, as stated by the antitrust body.

Unfortunately, Apple has declined to comment on the matter at the moment. So stay tuned for more, as we will be providing more updates when more information is available regarding the matter, or when the company finally publicly addresses the hefty fine it faces in Italy.

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Oppo has just made a new announcement in response to the recent criticism it had garnered due to false advertising. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer had shared misleading details regarding the Find X2‘s weight on its official product page and is now offerings refunds to people that have purchased the handset.

Oppo had recently launched its latest flagship series, the Find X2 and Find X2 Pro. These smartphones are premium grade flagships and cost 5,499 and 6,999 respectively (or roughly $783 and $996). After its launch, many people noticed that the weight of the smartphone felt heavier than what was officially claimed; and after real life tests, it was determined that the actual weight was nearly 5-13 grams higher than advertised.

This led to a controversy that sparked online which although was a small mistake from the company, could potentially be interpreted as misleading to its customers. Thus, Shen Yiren, the Vice President of Oppo, issued a public apology and stated that the company would investigate that matter. So it was found out that there were several discrepancies in the weight of the Oppo Find X2 series.

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Notably, the glass version of the Find X2 weighed 192g, over the claimed 187grams. Similarly, the ceramic Find X2 unit weighed 209g which is sizeably more than the officially advertised 196g. Furthermore, this even affected the Find X2 Pro units with its ceramic version seeing an increase of 10g over actual and claimed weight as well.

Thus, Oppo has officially started refunds for the Find X2 series in China. Other regions where the Find X2 series is available will have the product information updated while Mainland China will make refunds against Find X2 orders for those that wish to return the device. So for those interested, make your way to the nearest customer service center in China before 24th March 2020, to avail this limited time offer.

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