Travel Technology - On the Road with No Gadgets

So I'm doing a week-long leisure trip... currently in South America, flying today to Africa.

I wanted to travel light so I left the iPad and laptop at home, taking only my Galaxy Nexus smartphone, a Jawbone Jambox, and a wireless router. The Nexus does Skype, web, e-mail, IM, maps, etc., and video is surprisingly watchable for those quiet moments on a bus, train or plane. If I absolutely had to edit a document, I could do that too.

Well, two days into the trip the Nexus died. No, I didn't drop it or get it wet. I was playing an audio podcast while walking around town and when I went to switch the feed, it froze. I tried to reset it and it wouldn't. Now it won't turn on. I have no backup phone on me.

I think I'm suffering from connectivity withdrawal. I have to go to the hotel business centre to check my e-mail. I have no SMS or WhatsApp access, which is my main communication medium with my wife while on the road. I feel naked.

I've read my one hard copy of the Economist three times. I can't get an English newspaper where I am. I do have BBC World at the hotel so I can tell you all about Euro 2012 if you want...

Can I get some sympathy please? :( :(

If you can read this reply...

Did you try pulling the battery? That usually unfreezes even the hardest of lockups.

Remove the battery and try that. The hard reset on a Nexus is I believe all done through menus, so if you can't get anything on the screen I don't think you can reset it (though it will wipe the phone anyways)

It's not an uncommon problem by the way, there are other forums about it, some reporting trying everything with no results and then the next day it worked fine for a bit and died again. The repair seems to be new motherboard.

I also find it funny that somebody with a Nexus, Jambox, and wireless router believes they are traveling gadget free.

:D

Make sure that the battery is fully charged and try to boot it again but if it still doesn't start then check that what kind of apps yow were using in. It may be software or hardware problem. Show it to any outlet or warranty shop to check the fault.

Howard Forums is the place to ask any phone questions

those guys live for phones !

Soarer

Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

I have indeed charged, pulled and reinserted the battery. I´ve pressed every button in every possible configuration. It´s really, truly dead.

When it originally froze, the screen was legible but covered in an old-fashioned TV-like snow pattern... like trying to watch Pay TV you hadn´t paid for... that was the last thing I saw before I pulled the battery and went black for good.

Does anyone know what kind of hoops I´ll have to jump through to get warranty service from Samsung? I bought this phone through my carrier in February and I didn´t register it or keep the receipt. Call me crazy, but I´ve never had a tech device go bad on me... and I have more than my share.

Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

I have indeed charged, pulled and reinserted the battery. I´ve pressed every button in every possible configuration. It´s really, truly dead.

When it originally froze, the screen was legible but covered in an old-fashioned TV-like snow pattern... like trying to watch Pay TV you hadn´t paid for... that was the last thing I saw before I pulled the battery and went black for good.

Does anyone know what kind of hoops I´ll have to jump through to get warranty service from Samsung? I bought this phone through my carrier in February and I didn´t register it or keep the receipt. Call me crazy, but I´ve never had a tech device go bad on me... and I have more than my share.

Try holding down volume up and volume down at the same time as powering on to see if you can enter the bootloader. If that doesn't work, then it really is totally dead. It could be as simple as a battery - does it power on plugged in without a battery in it?