Engadget http://www.engadget.com Engadget http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif Engadget http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[iPhone 4 combusts on Australian flight, looks madder than a spurned Qantas employee]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/iphone-4-self-combusts-on-australian-flight-looks-madder-than-a/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/iphone-4-self-combusts-on-australian-flight-looks-madder-than-a/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/iphone-4-self-combusts-on-australian-flight-looks-madder-than-a/#comments On an airline that's actually serving the great country of Australia these days, an iPhone 4 decided enough was enough. Shortly after Regional Express flight ZL319 landed in Sydney from Lismore, "a passenger's mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow." What happened next is a bit of an Aussie mystery, but it seems at some point that the glow was "extinguished successfully." No one onboard was harmed, and the handset in question has been handed over to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for "analysis." It suffered only mild reception issues prior to its final collapse, and if faced with a similar situation, Siri reportedly stated that it would consult a therapist before discharging hot fury.

Update: Ross let us know that officials from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau are investigating the incident.

Continue reading iPhone 4 combusts on Australian flight, looks madder than a spurned Qantas employee

iPhone 4 combusts on Australian flight, looks madder than a spurned Qantas employee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>appleAustraliabatterybattery problembattery problemsBatteryProblemBatteryProblemscombustionexplosionfireheathotiphoneiphone 4Iphone4mobilepostcrossregional expressRegionalExpresssmokeMon, 28 Nov 2011 14:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Overheating iPhone reports 'exploding' all over France, Apple responds]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/#comments Reports of iPhones exploding, starting fires and killing people in cold blood have been around since the inception of the handset. They've also been relatively sporadic, seemingly short on evidence, and Apple hasn't given complaints much credence or response. So when we heard a story from France the other day about a security guard's iPhone "exploding" and sending a shard of glass into his eye (though apparently not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit), it was a little hard to believe, but with a few other stories of cracking screens due to overheating cropping up in Europe over the past couple weeks, French authorities have taken an interest in the story. Anecdotally, a teen says his phone "imploded" in Belgium and gave him a headache, a woman's phone cracked without warning, and ten or so victims in France have come forward to complain of similar problems, picking up the interest of a French consumer watchdog group. Apple is naturally not new to the concept of overheating in its battery-powered devices -- in fact, it's just entered into its first full-on iPod nano recall in Korea of the 1st-gen players after numerous reports of battery faultiness worldwide -- but with 26 million iPhones out and about, and the iPhone 3GS tending to run a bit hotter than its siblings, a systemic problem with one or all models of the handsets isn't something consumers or Apple would take lightly.

Herve Novelli, France's top trade official, met with Apple France's Michel Coulomb today to discuss the problem, and so far Apple is sticking to its guns: it claims that reported incidents are in the single digits, and that all cases it's investigated fully so far have turned out to be blamed on "external force" to the screen. Herve and Michel seem to have parted on friendly terms, promising to keep in touch over the issue, and the EU's alert system for dangerous consumer products (inexplicably dubbed RAPEX) is staying in the loop as well, asking the 27 member nations to keep tabs on the situation. Novelli says it's "too early to blame anyone," and we'd have to agree, but we hope Apple keeps up the (freshly) open communication about this issue going forward.

Read - French minister meets Apple exec over iPhone problems
Read - Apple denies 'exploding' iPhones
Read - Apple denies battery problem with exploding iPhones
Read - Belgian teenager latest victim of exploding iPhone phenomenon

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Overheating iPhone reports 'exploding' all over France, Apple responds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applecracked screenCrackedScreenexploding batteryexploding iphoneExplodingBatteryExplodingIphonefirefrancefrenchiphoneiphone 3giphone 3gsIphone3gIphone3gsmobilerapexFri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Overheating iPhone reports 'exploding' all over France, Apple responds]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/overheating-iphone-reports-exploding-all-over-france-apple-re/#comments Reports of iPhones exploding, starting fires and killing people in cold blood have been around since the inception of the handset. They've also been relatively sporadic, seemingly short on evidence, and Apple hasn't given complaints much credence or response. So when we heard a story from France the other day about a security guard's iPhone "exploding" and sending a shard of glass into his eye (though apparently not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit), it was a little hard to believe, but with a few other stories of cracking screens due to overheating cropping up in Europe over the past couple weeks, French authorities have taken an interest in the story. Anecdotally, a teen says his phone "imploded" in Belgium and gave him a headache, a woman's phone cracked without warning, and ten or so victims in France have come forward to complain of similar problems, picking up the interest of a French consumer watchdog group. Apple is naturally not new to the concept of overheating in its battery-powered devices -- in fact, it's just entered into its first full-on iPod nano recall in Korea of the 1st-gen players after numerous reports of battery faultiness worldwide -- but with 26 million iPhones out and about, and the iPhone 3GS tending to run a bit hotter than its siblings, a systemic problem with one or all models of the handsets isn't something consumers or Apple would take lightly.

Herve Novelli, France's top trade official, met with Apple France's Michel Coulomb today to discuss the problem, and so far Apple is sticking to its guns: it claims that reported incidents are in the single digits, and that all cases it's investigated fully so far have turned out to be blamed on "external force" to the screen. Herve and Michel seem to have parted on friendly terms, promising to keep in touch over the issue, and the EU's alert system for dangerous consumer products (inexplicably dubbed RAPEX) is staying in the loop as well, asking the 27 member nations to keep tabs on the situation. Novelli says it's "too early to blame anyone," and we'd have to agree, but we hope Apple keeps up the (freshly) open communication about this issue going forward.

Read - French minister meets Apple exec over iPhone problems
Read - Apple denies 'exploding' iPhones
Read - Apple denies battery problem with exploding iPhones
Read - Belgian teenager latest victim of exploding iPhone phenomenon

Filed under:

Overheating iPhone reports 'exploding' all over France, Apple responds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applecracked screenCrackedScreenexploding batteryexploding iphoneExplodingBatteryExplodingIphonefirefrancefrenchiphoneiphone 3giphone 3gsIphone3gIphone3gsrapexFri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Is the iPhone hotter than we think?]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/#commentsIs the iPhone hotter than we think?
It's hard to call two incidents of some occurrence around the world a trend, but, when those incidents both involve an electrical device catching fire spontaneously, it creates a situation that's hard to ignore -- especially when that device is the iPhone. On Saturday, Italian blogger Tim Colbourne was charging his 3G handset and, after three hours, it sparked and caught fire at the base. Tim did a little investigation and found a case of a Swedish handset doing the same thing back in 2008, making us a little concerned that there could be more melted chargers out there. Apple replaced that earlier phone after something of a fight, and while we're hoping they'll be a little friendlier here, we're also hoping this gives Cupertino another bit of incentive to go ahead and switch over to micro-USB already. All the cool kids are doing it, and you don't see their cables catching fire -- usually.

[Via Cult of Mac]

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Is the iPhone hotter than we think? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>appleapple iphoneapple iphone 3gAppleIphoneAppleIphone3gchargercharger fireChargerFirefireiphoneiphone 3gIphone3gmobileusbWed, 04 Mar 2009 09:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Is the iPhone hotter than we think?]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/is-the-iphone-hotter-than-we-think/#commentsIs the iPhone hotter than we think?
It's hard to call two incidents of some occurrence around the world a trend, but, when those incidents both involve an electrical device catching fire spontaneously, it creates a situation that's hard to ignore -- especially when that device is the iPhone. On Saturday, Italian blogger Tim Colbourne was charging his 3G handset and, after three hours, it sparked and caught fire at the base. Tim did a little investigation and found a case of a Swedish handset doing the same thing back in 2008, making us a little concerned that there could be more melted chargers out there. Apple replaced that earlier phone after something of a fight, and while we're hoping they'll be a little friendlier here, we're also hoping this gives Cupertino another bit of incentive to go ahead and switch over to micro-USB already. All the cool kids are doing it, and you don't see their cables catching fire -- usually.

[Via Cult of Mac]

Filed under:

Is the iPhone hotter than we think? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apple iphoneapple iphone 3gAppleIphoneAppleIphone3gchargercharger fireChargerFirefireiphoneiphone 3gIphone3gusbWed, 04 Mar 2009 09:29:00 EST<![CDATA[iPhone overheats while docked, fight for replacement begins]]>http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/#comments
Not even a month after three iPods got all hot and bothered on separate occasions, along comes images showing that even Apple's iPhone isn't immune to melting itself. Purportedly, the handset was purchased from Carphone Warehouse in December, but was never activated for one reason or another. Just this week, the owner's son slapped it in a dock with intentions of activating, walked downstairs to catch the last few minutes of Magnum, P.I. and returned to his room to find a "stupidly hot" iPhone which had already melted in some parts and had its screen cracked from the reaction. Not surprisingly, he's currently in the middle of a runaround trying to get someone to remedy the issue, but thankfully no Earthlings, carpets or IKEA desks were harmed.

Update: Thanks to Logan5's quick eyes, it appears we've discovered a scammer in our midst. Essentially, this bloke posted the real story here noting that the crack (more on that here) actually appeared after it was mishandled and dropped. Haven't we learned this approach doesn't work by now?

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iPhone overheats while docked, fight for replacement begins originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applebatteryexplosionfireiphonemobileoverheatoverheatingThu, 03 Apr 2008 09:26:00 EST<![CDATA[iPhone overheats while docked, fight for replacement begins]]>http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/03/iphone-overheats-while-docked-fight-for-replacement-begins/#comments
Not even a month after three iPods got all hot and bothered on separate occasions, along comes images showing that even Apple's iPhone isn't immune to melting itself. Purportedly, the handset was purchased from Carphone Warehouse in December, but was never activated for one reason or another. Just this week, the owner's son slapped it in a dock with intentions of activating, walked downstairs to catch the last few minutes of Magnum, P.I. and returned to his room to find a "stupidly hot" iPhone which had already melted in some parts and had its screen cracked from the reaction. Not surprisingly, he's currently in the middle of a runaround trying to get someone to remedy the issue, but thankfully no Earthlings, carpets or IKEA desks were harmed.

Update: Thanks to Logan5's quick eyes, it appears we've discovered a scammer in our midst. Essentially, this bloke posted the real story here noting that the crack (more on that here) actually appeared after it was mishandled and dropped. Haven't we learned this approach doesn't work by now?

Filed under:

iPhone overheats while docked, fight for replacement begins originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applebatteryexplosionfireiphoneoverheatoverheatingThu, 03 Apr 2008 09:23:00 EST