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This is why you shouldn't bite an iPhone battery
We're nothing if not helpful here at Engadget and we're always looking out for your well-being. So today we have a little bit of advice for you: Don't bite your iPhone battery. One man found this out the hard way, Appleinsider reports, causing a minor explosion at an electronics store in China.
Exploding earphones burned a plane passenger's face
John B. Goodenough, one of lithium-ion battery's creators, truly has a good reason to find a better power source. Lithium-ion batteries have the potential to catch fire regardless of what device they're powering, whether it's a large phone, a kid's toy or a pair of wireless headphones. One Australian woman on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne found that out the hard way. She was woken up by the sound of a loud explosion and "felt burning on [her] face" -- her unnamed wireless headphones exploded and caught fire.
A visual history of gadgets that have burst into flames
Samsung had a rough 2016. Last year, the company had to recall its Galaxy Note 7 after units were catching fire, followed by millions of washing machines that were exploding in people's homes. But Samsung isn't the only company that's struggled recently with faulty batteries. We've seen similar issues with hoverboards, a Tesla Model S and the latest electric skateboard from Boosted. Let's take a look at other products that have had trouble in the flammability department. And let's hope those non-exploding lithium Ion batteries get here soon.
US regulators warn customers about exploding Samsung washers
Just days after Samsung began replacing defective Galaxy Note 7s due to a risk of exploding batteries, the company faces another major product issue. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a warning today after multiple reports of top-loading washing machines exploding. Owners of Samsung appliances in Georgia, Indiana and Texas say that they were doing a load of laundry when they heard a loud boom.
Samsung sued after Galaxy Note 7 explodes in pocket
With all those reports about Note 7s burning flesh and setting vehicles on fire, you're probably wondering when you'll hear about a lawsuit. Well, here you go. A man from Florida named Jonathan Strobel has filed a lawsuit against Samsung over an exploding Note 7, and it could be the first of its kind in the US. According to Reuters, the phone blew up in the plaintiff's pocket while he was in a Costco on September 9th. It reportedly caused deep second-degree burns to his right thigh that's about the size of the phone, as well as to his thumb.
The US is looking into exploding self-balancing skateboards
The US Consumer Safety Product Commission has announced that it's launching a large-scale enquiry into the safety of self-balancing skateboards. The devices' propensity to spontaneously combust, notorious enough for even Saturday Night Live to have produced a sketch parodying it, is something of a safety risk. The bureau has designated the problem a "priority investigation" and has allocated plenty of time and resources to find the "root cause of the fires." Although we're not sure they need to, since we all know the problem is their shitty, knock-off lithium ion batteries made by dodgy factories in China.
Exploding iPod touch sets kid's pants on fire, melts his underwear, causes untold emotional pain
An Ohio mom is filing a lawsuit against Apple on behalf of her son, whose "iTouch" popped in his pocket and proceeded to torch his pants. He had to be treated for second degree burns on his leg, had a hole burnt through his pants pocket and got an underwear melting to top it all off. Also, according to the lawsuit, "He continues to suffer from both physical and mental conditions which will cause him to suffer pain, mental distress, emotional distress, and otherwise for the rest of his life." Poor kid! In addition to Apple, the lawsuit seemingly randomly names 10 Apple retail employees, and wants $150,000+ and attorney fees in damages. While we've seen a couple burnt charging cables of late, this is the first we've heard of an iPod touch "popping," and it's especially odd because the lawsuit claims the iPod was turned off at the time of the incident. Whether or not that's true, we'll be certainly keeping an eye on a trend developing here. When it comes to our children, burning pants are everyone's business.
Exploding ThinkPad attacks man, burns through bed
We're fairly certain this BoringTrash fellow's statement that his IBM ThinkPad R50e "tried to kill" him is a bit unfair -- it appears to us that the R50e was merely attempting to get him out of the way so that it could completely devour his bed. The best part of it all is that the three-year-old exploding laptop still works when plugged into an external monitor, but BoringTrash is keeping this one away from mattresses for the time being.
iPod "nana" spews chest-high flames from trousers -- lawsuit at 11
Prepare to be amazed at what passes for investigative journalism on television these days. Atlanta's WSB-TV Action News team ran a sensational iPod "nana" piece last night under the title "Man's Pants Catch Fire At Airport." To set the stage, WSB-TV says that the nano "uses the same technology as those troubled laptop batteries under recall due to the risk of fire." In steps Danny Williams -- mild mannered consumer, airport employee -- who claims that his iPod nano "burst into" chest-high flames while he was at work. So why isn't he covered in burns after exposure to such a serious chemical fire? We've all watched the horrifying video of a lithium ion battery explosion, right? Well, Danny claims that he was protected by a "glossy piece of paper" in his pocket at the time. Taking it up a notch, WSB-TV worries that Danny could have been mistaken for a terrorist due to his smoking airport trousers. Look, we're not saying that nothing happened, after all, we've written about an exploding iPod nano before. We're only saying that it didn't happen in the way described. Check the video of the hot-coffee-in-lap style legal preparation after the break. [Thanks, Will]
