Matsushita: Battery Overheating Solved?
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The replacement of a thin plastic resin insulating layer, or polyolefin, with a new and undisclosed heat resistance layer, could prevent future incidents of lithium-ion batteries spontaneously catching fire. From the battery producing arm of Matsushita, Panasonic's parent company, which claims it's now ready to begin producing batteries with the new insulator.
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(InfoWorld) - Acer, the world's fourth-largest PC vendor, is in talks with Sony over joining its voluntary laptop PC battery recall, but said Acer users haven't reported any problems so far. "Previously, we believed there were no problems with our batteries, but now we're in discussions with Sony, just to make sure," said Stella Chou, an Acer representative in Taipei. Acer has not received any complaints from users over laptops overheating or catching fire, she said. Sony's battery woesÂ started in August whenÂ Dell recalled 4.1 millionÂ laptop computer batteries due to a potential fire hazard caused by Sony-made lithium-ion battery cells damaged during production. Other companies soon followed Dell's lead, includingÂ Apple Computer,Â Lenovo Group, andÂ Toshiba. Sony has already agreed to pay at least some of the cost of the battery recalls, telling investors in August that the Dell and Apple recalls could cost it between Â¥20 billion and Â¥30 billion ($169 million and $254 million). The Japanese electronics giant has not updated the figure since then. Late last week,Â Sony announcedÂ a global battery exchange program due to growing user concerns. Over 6.6 million laptop batteries have been recalled since mid-August.
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(InfoWorld) - Two NEC desktop computers in Japan have caught fire since late last year and NEC is now offering to replace faulty power units at the root of the problem, the electronics giant said on Monday. The first Valuestar computer caught fire in October 2005 and the second in November this year, said Akiko Shikimori, an NEC spokeswoman. The culprit is a component within the power unit inside the computer. The component and the power unit are not manufactured by NEC but she could not reveal which company makes them. The power unit overheats and if the customer continues to use the desktop it can cause a fire, she said. No one was injured in the two reported cases, she said. NEC manufactured the computers between November 2003 and June 2004 and 14,600 are in use, mainly by consumers, in Japan. The company will exchange the faulty power unit for a new one for all users of the computers, she said. Millions of laptop computer batteries, made by Sony, haveÂ recently been recalledÂ due to a problem that could cause fires but that issue has been confined to laptops and battery power. Sony is replacing 9.6 million laptop computer batteries in a recallÂ expected to costÂ it Â¥51.2 billion ($433 million).
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Lenovo confirms that one of its laptops overheated and caught fire, but it doesn't yet know if Sony batteries were inside.
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Matsushita boosts production of heatproof batteries for laptops following worries about overheating.
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Suitable for BBQ marshmallow roasting In the latest episode of The Laptop Infernos, a MacBook user is reporting his laptop came close to burning his house down after the battery exploded and burst into flames. The MacBook, which was less than a year-old, was charging with the lid shut when it spontaneously ignited at about three in the morning while the user and his girlfriend slumbered.â¦
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by STEVE HARTSOE  RALEIGH, N.C. - Lenovo Inc. recalled about 205,000 laptop computer batteries worldwide Thursday, warning that they could overheat and cause a fire.  The battery recall was the second for the company in the past six months and comes as Lenovo, the world's No.
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I get an occasional âinsufficient system resources exist to complete the APIâ message when I try to put my laptop in hibernation. What can I do?
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Went up 'like fireworks', family claims A Leicestershire family was this left in shock after their Dell laptop exploded "like fireworks" and set light to their living room furniture, it was reported this week - just before news broke of Sony's decision to appoint a battery safety officer.â¦
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About 4.4 million now under recall; firm says units can overheat, possibly causing fire or shock. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Dell Inc.
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Ten days after Dell's record-setting notebook battery recall, Apple Computer Inc. told its customers Thursday to return 1.8 million batteries that could cause their Mac laptops to overheat and catch fire.
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Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.  said on Monday it aims to mass-produce spark-resistant batteries, eyeing a potential sales opportunity following incidents involving rivals' battery packs.
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Blog: A Sony battery in a Toshiba laptop that was part of last year's massive recall caught fire last month in Great Britain.
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Japanese authorities yesterday reported the first case of an Apple laptop catching fire in Japan and ordered the US company to investigate the trouble involving the faulty Sony batteries and report back within a week.
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Japan's largest mobile-phone provider said Thursday it is recalling 1.3 million battery packs because some of them could generate excessive heat and rupture.
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- Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. 6758.T   on Thursday said it will recall certain lithium-ion notebook   computer batteries following complaints of overheating by some   computer makers.
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Sanyo-made fire hazard Lenovo is recalling more than 200,000 Thinkpad batteries after some caught fire when owners dropped their laptops.â¦