Special Report - More power and a quiet exit for Taser’s best-selling product - what's the best electric toothbrush 2016

Scottsdale, Arizona (Reuters)-
The X26 itself is in a class.
The electrified dart gun is stylish, lightweight and compact.
However, Taser International says its ability to stop suspects is second to none.
Launched in 2003, X26 is the third model of Taser and quickly becomes its "Golden Standard ". ” Taser’s No.
Over the past decade, the X26 has contributed more than half of its revenue for most of the time.
But a Reuters review of scientific literature and company, court and patent records found that its power-off was costly: a higher risk to the heart.
When its darts pierce the meat, the X26 offers more power than any other Taser gun, almost twice as much as the newer "smart" weapon.
On 2014, Taser stopped selling X26 in the United States and Canada, and told police customers that its mock-up working horse was about to be out of date.
It was five years after Taser launched his first "smart" digital weapon-all of which are unlikely to endanger the heart.
After the huge risk of the X26 appeared, the Taser gun neither called the police nor recalled the best --selling weapon.
It's still on the butt of the police until today.
The company is trying to transform the X26 to reduce its maximum electrical output.
In the end, Taser gave up the effort.
The scientist told Reuters that its engineers could not control an attribute, that is, the Taser gun has the ability to stop the suspects and has the potential to put their hearts at risk: its charges, its every Quick Charge-
Emitting pulses.
Dr. Zian Tseng, a professor at UC San Francisco and a cardiologist at UC San Francisco Health Center, said that the greater the electrical output, the greater the risk to the human heart.
"If there is more energy, it can capture the heart muscles more easily," Tseng said . "S.
National Institutes of Health.
"Therefore, the risk of the heart is higher.
Taser said there was never a reason to recall x26.
Steve Tater, a spokesman for the company, said that the risk of all weapons was low, exceeding their benefits.
Taser disagrees with the statement that X26 poses special risks.
Instead, it emphasizes that it is safer than the new model.
Tater told Reuters that its view is that because the charge of the new Taser gun is "far below" the maximum charge of the X26, "This further increases the heart safety margin.
"The charge of the weapon is not the only factor that affects security," Tater said.
Other considerations include the shape of the electrical pulse emitted by the guided electronic weapon (as the Taser gun says CEWs.
"By the right definition, all Taser guns CEWs are very safe," he said . ".
The company's leadership does not believe that any Taser gun has caused a deadly heartbeat to stop, Tater said.
However, Reuters reported in August that medical inspectors and coroner across the United States believe that the manufacturer's stun gun is the cause or cause of the death of more than 150 people.
The development of Taser's "smart" weapons is at a turning point, in part because of the success of x26.
Taser sold 425,000 weapons, most of them x26, and according to statistics, 15,000 police agencies are customers.
The company says it's time to sell new products to old customers.
Founder and CEO Rick Smith said at a 0. 6 billion-call conference introducing X3: "There are $2009 upgrade opportunities that we will actively pursue, "its first" smart "weapon, stock analyst.
"The police we found were like kids in the candy shop.
Taser encourages cash
Many cities are applying for federal stimulus money to pay for upgrades, as are many.
The plan coincided with the peak of the lawsuit: on 2009, the police filed 46 abnormal death lawsuits for using the Taser gun.
The company sells its "smart" model as an upgrade to promote improvements such as laser targeting and backup lenses.
Taser's announcement of X3 said its ability to adjust electrical output "enhances safety ".
A footnote reports that its "output pulse" is less than the maximum output pulse of x26.
Taser guns offer millions of discounts, including hundreds of dollars off the price of new weapons for each "legacy" transaction --in.
Now that the company has persuaded a number of law enforcement agencies to upgrade, it has heard another complaint: the new Taser gun is not as good as the old Taser gun-putting risks to its own customers
A lawsuit filed by a Houston police officer questioned the match.
Change the Taser gun's commitment to stun guns-these weapons run at a sweet spot of electricity and release enough juice to fall even the most determined suspects, but not enough to endanger the heart
Taser, who recently renamed Axon Enterprise Inc. , disagrees with the allegations.
There are many ways to characterize electricity: volts, amps, Joules, Watts.
Media reports of stun guns tend to emphasize the 50,000 V voltage that drives the Taser gun to power on.
But this voltage has never reached the target.
This is not the most important thing when it comes to heart danger.
As CEO Smith told the court in 2008, the key is the charge delivered, measured with microcullen.
The Taser gun sends a pulse current along the copper wire to the target through a barbed dart.
The charge is the number of electrons in each pulse.
Smith's first live dart gun, Air Taser, launched in 1995, fired 70 microlun per pulse.
As Smith later described, this is not enough to stop the identified suspect.
During a demonstration in Prague, Smith told police in a letter that a "excited" volunteer "managed to get through" the empty Taser gun.
Smith began to develop a better Taser gun.
He told the Patent Office that this is a public security issue: if the police also rely on
There may be "terrible consequences" in order to stop the suspect ".
"Muscles must be locked," he warned . ".
On 1999, Smith released the M26, the first electric shock weapon designed to lock the muscles.
According to the early electrical specifications released by Taser, the M26 encapsulates a larger charge, providing 85 micro-Lun electricity per pulse.
In 2003, Taser partially increased the charge of X26 by increasing the duration of each pulse.
The early specification indicates that the X26 provides 100 microcullen per pulse.
In a message sent to police instructors on January 2004, Taser said that X26 provided "the highest level of safe power failure ever ".
X26 occupied the market.
Taser's revenue of 2004 was the first annual sales of the model, up 177%.
It is not only more effective, but also lighter and more compact.
Bulky M26s tend to be left in police cars.
The X26 holster is easier and ready.
Police filed a complaint earlier: after X26 knocked down the suspect, some people were able-second shock.
Initially, the X26 was designed to send 19 pulses per second in the first two seconds, falling to a slower rate of 15 pulses in the last three seconds.
In a 2004 announcement to the police, Taser explained that the idea is that it takes more energy to knock down the suspects, not to suppress them.
Slow speed will extend battery life.
Before the end of the first year of sales, the company reconfigured the X26-sent software updates with a new power pack.
With this, the X26 was modified to provide reliable 19 pulses per second for the entire length of the trigger extrusion.
Two years later, in 2006, an article in a medical journal published some disturbing news about x26.
A study published by doctors in Canada shows that both the M26 and X26 capture the heart of the pig and have them compete.
The study also showed that the X26 captured them almost every time-about twice as much as the m26.
Capture is not necessarily dangerous.
But the heart captured by a fast-moving external power supply can lead to potentially fatal ventricular fibrillation.
The author believes that the longer the duration of the X26 pulse, the greater its effectiveness.
Taser criticized the study, saying it used synthetic adrenaline to simulate the effects of stress, making the pig's heart more vulnerable.
In 2008, more than four years after the Taser gun launched the X26, it learned that the output of the weapon could be third higher than the output it disclosed in its earlier spec sheet.
A company has updated the specifications of the Taser gun-
Funded research shows that X26 can charge 135 microlun when darts hit the meat.
In 2009, the Taser gun also had a surprise: a Taser gun "captured" a human heart, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The incident occurred during the company's own testing of the upcoming model x3.
The electronic pulse of the weapon caught the heart of a police volunteer who was identified only as the subject matter No.
And held in Sal for 10 seconds.
It runs at 240 times a minute-four times his still heart rate.
The researchers stopped the test and informed the company officials.
Taser immediately reduced power and pushed X3 to market with the target output of 63 micro-Coolen.
"We have a reasonable scientific basis, and the device will be safer based on lower costs," Dr Donald Dawes, a research consultant for the study, told Reuters . ".
Two weeks after the capture incident, Smith launched a dial-up-
Stock analysts fell X3.
At a conference call on July 29, 2009, he said the security margin for x3 was "about twice" that of x26 ".
He compared the two weapons to several generations of different motor vehicles.
The old stun gun, Smith said, "is like a 1999-inch minivan, very safe, with folds and airbags, etc . ".
"Is the 2009 minivan safer?
Of course, there are now side airbags and more advances in technology.
"Next month, Taser released a training course that explicitly links safety to electrical output.
According to instructor notes from Slide 44, "63 charging units are about the best level to achieve energy loss while maximizing safety.
Taser's vice president of research, Magne Nerheim, told a court earlier this year that Taser was considering remodeling X26, but gave up the idea when engineers could not solve the problem.
Tater said in an email that the X26 lacks enough space and memory to add "charging metering technology ".
September 2009, after the second month.
Taser issued his first heart hazard warning and advised police to avoid shooting in the chest.
Taser declined to disclose allegations of the X3 prototype that captured police hearts.
But in the testimony a month later
CEO Smith says X3 has passed the "worst test --
Case scenario "with darts on the skin.
"That's how we can rate the device at a speed of 110 micro-Cullen," he said-below X26's performance under the same conditions.
In the lawsuit, Smith and other Taser executives testified that charges are the most important factor in determining heart safety.
In a recent presentation, a group of doctors from Taser paid highlighted this, saying: "It is understood that heart safety is primarily the function of delivering charge to the heart.
But Taser spokesman Tater warned in an email to Reuters not to "blindly compare different models of micro-Coolen ".
Equally important, he said, is the "waveform" or shape of the Taser gun pulse.
"Different waveform technologies cannot directly compare charges," said Tater . ".
Tseng, a professor at the University of California, agrees that the waveform "is a consideration in terms of heart safety.
"But when considering heart capture, the charge delivered is more important," he said, referring to the natural rhythm of the external current taking over the heart. After No.
The episode of 8 was revealed in an article in the 2011 American Journal of Science. K.
The government advisory committee reminded the British police organization and warned that even if the case involves unpublished prototypes, all Taser gun models, including the widely used X26, should be considered valid
Police in the United States have not received an official warning because Taser guns are almost unregulated in the company's largest market.
Taser also introduced two other models-X2 in 2011 and X26P in 2013-both of which have a target charge of 63 micro-Kurun.
The X26 is still in the lineup of Taser.
This is what police in Ontario, California carried during the summer of 2012, when Nancy schlock called 911 for help to help her husband with a mental illness.
Tom schlock weighs less than 140 pounds, as if not. 8, slight.
He has a heart problem, too.
After exchanging words, an officer fired his Taser X26, fired a dart into Schrock's belly and pressed the stun gun against his chest.
Schrock collapsed and never regained consciousness.
A week later, he was removed from his life support and died.
The coroner said his heart was shaking and stopped delivering blood to the organs, leaving the brain without oxygen.
Nancy Schrock sued Taser, claiming that the X26 was defective because it could cause the heartbeat to stop-the company knew that.
She argued in the lawsuit that her husband might still be alive if Taser refitted or recalled X26.
"We have never had a reason to consider a recall," Tater said.
The court held that, in some cases, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to warn, repair or recall the product when a problem is found.
This often depends on the timing of the discovery of the problem, the nature of any injury or danger, and the availability and cost of remedies or alternative products.
"You're basically going through this balance test where you see the benefits of the product and the risk of damage," John T said . "
Nockleby is a professor and director of the Civil Justice Program at Los Angeles Loyola Law School.
Another question is whether there is a better design.
If a new design reduces damage almost as effectively, he says, "it makes the original design look less secure and potentially defective.
The Schrock case was dismissed before this year's trial.
Neither side will comment on the results.
Nine months after Tom Schrock's death, another report surfaced pointing to the relative effectiveness of the x26.
A March 2013 journal report describes the Taser gun.
Comparison of sponsored pig tests for X26 and x2.
The X26 captured the pig's heart in 63% of the time-more than twice as much as the x2.
The researchers said the results showed that X2 had a "security advantage" over x26 ".
X2 "has different electrical properties and is considered to have better heart safety," they said . ".
The study was not intended to establish human danger, but just to compare one model with another, Tater said.
Taser continues to sell x26.
Before and after the study was published, the company announced the sale of 500 stun guns to the United States. S. Army.
The first buyer of the new X2 was Charlotte, North Carolina, and two years later, two suspects died after being shocked by police with an X26 Taser gun.
The coroner said the weapons were one of the causes of the deaths of the two.
Shortly before the second death, Taser began a X2 promotion featuring a trade volume of $300.
Allowance for each weapon
Taser said it was the "most generous upgrade plan" in the company's history ".
"Taser reports the charge of the electrical specification X2: 63 micro-Cullen, positive and negative 9, published in the single line.
There is no explanation of the meaning of the charge, nor is it with 135-
Maximum charging of Taser's "gold standard" x26.
Tattle said in an email that Taser explained the differences in sales activities and training sessions.
He said the explanations included telling the police that the new device "provides more specific outputs in the same output range as the previous device.
"The police department needs to help understand the evolving technical specifications of the Taser gun model, said Jennifer Doleac, an economist at the University of Virginia who studies the use of criminal justice technology.
"I can't imagine that most people in the police department have enough expertise to know what that means," she said . ".
Charlotte sold the new Taser gun.
It equipped the entire police force with X2 for $1. 8 million.
A written proposal submitted by the police chief to the city council said it was a good deal, reflecting a trade discount of $700,000ins.
Even if Taser spent millions convincing the police to buy new models, sales of its most powerful weapons remain strong.
At 2013 and 2014, it sold the 50,000X26 stun gun for $48. 5 million.
Taser stopped X26 sales in the US and Canada on December 31, 2014.
Since then, the company has reported the sale of 8,000 x26 devices without revealing the identity or location of the purchaser.
In its annual report of the year, the company said a few words about the largest seller in its largest market to stop selling.
This topic did not appear during the next earnings call.
This still-in-use weapon died after being stunned in at least 9 of the 25 cases in the first half of this year, sometimes in combination with newer X2 and X26P models, or in combination with other police forces.
Reuters is unable to determine what role X26 and other stun guns play in these deaths, if any ).
"There are a lot of X26s out there," Tater said . ".
"The longest on the shelf is our product.