Japan tells Apple to probe burning battery problem
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Risk of big fires fines if it doesn't Japan's trade ministry has given Apple a week to explain why one of the Mac maker's notebooks allegedly burst into flames in April this year and to detail what's being done to make sure the incident isn't repeated.â¦
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In cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Apple has voluntarily recalled some of its laptop batteries. The batteries in question are found in 15-inch PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) laptops. The recall is a result of four reports that the ...
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Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.  (6752.T) said on Tuesday it had started recalling 6,000 PC  batteries as they could overheat when subjected to a strong  impact -- the latest battery recall involving Japanese  electronics makers.
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Japanese electronics maker Sony (6758.T)  said on Saturday it is investigating a fire incident on a  Lenovo (0992.HK) laptop PC that reportedly used a Sony-made  battery.
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Fujitsu provided more guidance Wednesday on the specifics of its previously announced recall, saying that 287,000 Sony-manufactured batteries would be recalled due to short-circuit and overheating issues.
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(InfoWorld) - Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.Â (Panasonic) said it has developed a lithium-ion battery that won't overheat even if a short circuit occurs. The new battery includes a heat-resistive insulator inside the battery cell, next to an existing separator that insulates the anode and cathode. If that separator is punctured a short circuit occurs that typically causes the battery to overheat and in some circumstances catch fire. Panasonic said its insulator layer ensures that the battery won't overheat even in the event of a short circuit. Panasonic's announcement responds to consumers' concern about the safety of lithium-ion batteries following a number of incidents involving them. Earlier this year most major laptop computer makersÂ started recall or exchange programsÂ for batteries containing lithium-ion cells made by Sony after a number of batteries overheated and caught fire. Sony blamed the problem on metallic particles that got inside the battery during production, puncturing the separator layer and causing a short circuit. The replacement program covers 9.6 million batteries and willÂ cost SonyÂ up to Â¥51 billion (US$432 million). Then on Dec. 7, Japanese mobile-carrier NTT DoCoMo and handset-maker Mitsubishi ElectricÂ recalled 1.3 million cell-phone batteriesÂ made by Sanyo Electric, saying they could overheat and catch fire. Panasonic's new batteries are made by another company in the Matsushita group, Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., and are ready for mass production, said Akira Kadota, a spokesman for Panasonic in Tokyo. The batteries aren't available directly to end users but are sold in bulk to electronics product manufacturers, so Panasonic wouldn't reveal their price. Kadota said they could be more expensive than current cells but could also work out cheaper if large orders are placed. Matsushita Battery Industrial is one of the largest battery makers in Japan. Â
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MacCentral - Apple Computer Inc. on Thursday issued a recall for PowerBook batteries sold from January 2004 through August 2004 for use with 15-inch PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) notebook computers. The batteries, made by LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea, could overheat, posing a fire hazard -- Apple said they have received four such reports, although no injuries have been reported.
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Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O) has agreed to recall about 28,000 batteries used in its 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptop computers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.
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Apple is recalling about 28,000 batteries that shipped this year in its PowerBook G4 portable computers.
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Apple iPhone users can pay $87 to have the battery replaced if it fails.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple does not agree that a manufacturing defect caused power failures in an iBook G4 laptop sold in Denmark, but it refunded the customer's money, said the country's Consumer Complaints Board. An Apple spokeswoman in the U.S. said, "Apple disagrees with the DCCB's findings based on our own investigation, and has a strong track record for customer satisfaction." The case is just one of many concerning the iBook G4 that the board has heard about, Frederik Navne Boesgaard, the complaints board's legal adviser, said Wednesday. Apple also faces a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California concerning a similar problem with the iBook G4. In a complaint filed on Nov. 7, plaintiff Alan Vitt said the computers' motherboards fail at an abnormally high rate. Apple is seeking to have the complaint dismissed -- its filing on that motion is due Thursday with the next hearing in the case set for Oct. 4. The Danish complaints board, part of the government-funded National Consumer Agency, published a technical report on faulty iBooks in May. The study found solder joints around a voltage regulator were flawed in such a way as to deteriorate each time the computers were turned on or off, until they would no longer start up. However, using a clamp to apply pressure to the computers' casing, next to the trackpad, closed up the broken joints and allowed the computer to start -- a clear sign of an original design flaw, the study concluded. In response, Apple submitted its own technical report saying that the flaw was not due to cycling the power on and off, but this was not enough to sway the board's decision. Two weeks ago, the board challenged Apple to concede the point and refund the customer's money or take their customer to court. Apple paid up, said Navne Boesgaard. The complaints board is handling four such cases, and owners of faulty iBook G4s continue to come forward: 15 more have called him in recent days, he said. The faulty iBooks were among the first notebooks using the G4 processor that Apple produced and had an opaque white casing like their G3 predecessors. The machines examined, the 800MHz Model 9164LL/A and the 1GHz Model 9426LL/A, were introduced in April 2004 and discontinued in October of that year. The board received the complaints between April and November 2006.
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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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Blog: Just like with an iPod, iPhone customers will have to return the whole unit to Apple in order to replace the battery.
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A consumer group which has pressured Apple in the past to improve iPod service options and quality has called on the company to be clearer about the iPhone's unique -- and potentially disruptive -- battery-replacement issues.
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Apple has had to recall up to 28,000 notebook batteries that were sold for use with their 15-inch PowerBook. Apple reports that faulty batteries sold between January 2004 and August 2004 can overheat and pose a fire hazard.
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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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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.