The case of the sparking iPod Nano
By Arnold Zafra
Here comes another case of exploding gadgets caused by overheating battery chargers. This time it has been reported that an iPod Nano in Japan started sparking while being recharged.
The Japanese industry ministry has already listed the incident as serious incidents and has asked Apple Japan to find out what went wrong.
The Apple Japan has not yet issued an official statement yet about the incident. Interestingly, there is no warning statement in the iPod Nano’s manual that cautions users of possible overheating during charging. Instead, the manual states that “the use of power adapter may warm up during normal use”.
Although this could be the first time that an Apple iPod Nano has been reported to “spark”, it is not the first time for mobile devices to be afflicted by similar problems.
It was reported in Korea last year that a cellphone caused a death. Later on, it was found out that the cell phone was not actually the cause of death. Similarly in China, another cell phone was reported to have caused the death of a Chinese construction worker when the Motorola cell phone in his pocket exploded and pierced through his body damaging his heart.
Given the millions of mobile devices in use, and the very few reported incidents, I don’t think we need to start ditching our mobile phones and iPod Nanos.
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March 14th, 2008
[...] Betty Barrett wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLater on, it was found out that the cell phone was not actually the cause of death. Similarly in China, another cell phone was reported to have caused the death of a Chinese construction worker when the Motorola cell phone in his pocket … [...]