It appears Iphones and Ipods are EXPLODING across Europe.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/17106...our_fault.html


Is this for real???, its hilarious.... (unless you get a shard of glass in your eye)


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Apple: Exploding iPhones Not Our Fault

JR Raphael, PC World

Aug 28, 2009 5:31 pm

Apple Exploding iPhonesApple says it's not to blame for a series of exploding iPods and iPhones, according to a report published on Friday. The company has been under fire, so to speak, for devices overheating and shattering across Europe and the U.K.

Sheesh...and you thought the data rates were bad.

Exploding iPhone Investigation

This exploding iPhone business is no laughing matter: The European Union actually launched a formal inquiry last week after a teen in France said his girlfriend's iPhone screen blew up without warning and sent a shard of glass into his eye. Witnesses told a local paper the phone began to "crackle and pop like a deep-fryer" (only, we assume, without the delicious smell).

The France incident wasn't alone, either: It was preceded by a handful of other reports of exploding Apple devices in Europe and the U.K. In one instance, a man claimed Apple tried to keep him from talking by offering a full refund in exchange for his signature on a gag order. He reportedly refused, instead bringing the alleged smoking gun to the U.K.'s Times newspaper.

The Blame Game

So if Apple's not to blame for the detonating devices, who is? The company now says it's the customers, claiming some sort of improper handling led to the explosions.

"In all cases, the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone," a London-based spokesperson tells Bloomberg.

That explanation seems to contradict the statement by the teen from France, who's quoted by the AP as saying his girlfriend's phone "was not dropped and experienced no unusual shock" before its sudden combustion. (To be fair, applying some sort of "external force" could have been a "usual" occurrence for the couple. Interpret as you will.)

Either way, the investigation doesn't appear to be over. Apple reps met with French government officials to talk about the complaints and "possible measures" that could be taken, the AP reports, and independent experts from the U.S. are said to be conducting further tests as well.

Of course, you could always just side with the satirists and point the finger at Apple's "oppressive regime." Hey, it's your call.

Not funny at all.

No estimate of numbers, the article says "a handful of incidents".

What worries me more is the attempt to hush it up by Apple.

Hey, let's check that article out--

Now THAT is hushed up!

Worked fine here.. maybe check you internet connection?

EDIT: OK. I think I got your point: You're meaning that Apple did ask them to pull the web page... but apparently this did not happen since I was able to access it.

It worked the second time... not sure what was up the first...

I wonder if it'll be as bad as Nokia having to potentially replace some 46 million BL-5C batteries that were doing dubious things... have a read.

Stuff like this isn't new nor exclusive to Apple. Sony also had the laptop battery issue too, remember?

However, this serves to drive home how important removeable batteries are. Doesn't eliminate the risk, but darn sure lowers it.

Oh, the lack of a removable battery bothers me to a new level on the iPhone. However, let's face it.

They're (Apple) going towards non-removable battery in more of their products - Mac Book Pro 17" has one already, so will the rest if they already don't - and above all it's just plain stupid.

And a lot of netbooks... same thing. Some are not removable. And when stuff like this happens, it speaks ill of their decision(s).

It's stupid.

To be fair, practically every major mobile device maker has had a problem with exploding batteries at some point over the last 5 - 10 years.

Also to be fair, very few manufacturers actually make their own batteries. They're almost always made on behalf of the manufacturer by a third party, and it's usually this third party that is to blame for the exploding batteries.

The heart of it all seems to be that lithium batteries are the most convenient but they're also the most likely to explode.

Having said all that, we've got to keep this in perspective. The numbers involved are usually tiny, and the main reason they make the headlines is simply because there are so many gadgets sold.

There are 1000 million new mobile phones purchased every year, so even if the odds of an exploding battery were 10,000,000:1, you would still expect to see a hundred exploding battery incidents a year.

What's worrying about Apple's approach is their attempt to hush people up. That's not a healthy way to run a company, and it's not good for the next victim of a faulty battery either.


Yes, absolutely. Letting users remove and check batteries independently is important in dealing with this kind of problem.

For example when Nokia or almost any major phone maker has a battery recall you just open the casing, take the battery out, send it off and they send back a new one. There's no need to send the entire unit. And if there's no recall but you're still nervous you can always buy a new battery and replace it yourself.


That was a couple of years ago so they've dealt with it by now.

But as an example it highlights just how rare these things are. If we do the maths even a number as large as 46 million is actually quite small:

- The 46 million batteries were sold over three years

- Nokia sells about 400 million phones every year

- That's 1.2 billion Nokia phones sold every three years

- 46 million is 3.8% of 1.2 billion, so 96.2% of Nokia's phones from the period were unaffected by the recall.

- Most of the recalled batteries didn't actually explode, there was just a risk of it happening.

A big factor in these battery failures is the escalating push to wring more power/mileage out of each one. They're being stressed to the limit constantly, use and technology wise.