Appletell

After a Japanese man’s iPod nano caught fire while recharging (see here), officials are investigating a possible defect in the MA099J/A iPod nano model. Approximately 425,000 iPod nanos with identical model numbers have been shipped between September 2005 and September 2006. Fortunately, no one has been harmed due to the fire, although a possible defect in the iPod nano model is being investigated.

Apple has not denied any of the statements, although has refused to comment further. Japan is requesting that Apple look into the problem and report back to the Japanese government once an explanation was found.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in many electronics such as laptops, digital cameras, and iPod nanos, have been known to be the cause of many fires in electronics and recalls across the world for quite while. Many of the fires reported are due to overheating incidents, which is a possibility for this incident as well, although it is still under investigation.

Image Credit: James Bayliss

Yes, you heard right. A good friend of mine, and part time contributor to Appletell, James Bayliss, is the latest victim of an exploding laptop. James wasn’t hurt or anything other than a small burn on his hand, but both his MacBook Pro and desk have seen better days.

James was sitting at his desk yesterday, reading Digg, when all of a sudden he heard a loud “POP”. Immediately after this pop, sparks and flames started shooting out from his MacBook Pro, lighting his desk on fire and giving him a slight burn as he tried to put out the flames. He finally got the fire out, unplugged his MacBook Pro and pulled out the battery and gave Apple Europe a call.

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MJair, a user at the Niketalk fourms, posted several images of his 1st Generation iPod Nano, exploded. Mjair says that he was awaken at about 2AM by the fire alarm and, saw an “orange glow”, near his PS3. He also is quite happy his fire alarm was operational:

I can’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if that fire alarm wasn’t in my room.

MJair wasn’t harmed or damaged, nor his house, but this just shows the strength of the Nano. Don’t take this in consideration when buying one as his model was 3 generations old. Gizmodo points out that the iPhone stands up to fire much better than the iPod Nano.

Via [Gizmodo]