iPod Scare Leads to Inquiry in Japan

It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep — but there’s an iPod in the house, and it’s recharging …

The government of a technology-obsessed nation has officially raised the specter of the unsafe iPod, a little gadget you see just about everywhere (100 million of them have been sold in 5 years, or 1 for every 67 people on Earth):

Japan is investigating a possible defect in Apple Inc.’s iPod after one of the popular digital music players reportedly shot out sparks while recharging, a government official said Wednesday.

The rare bout of bad publicity for the lovable device was prompted by a single reported case, though several others have turned up in other countries.

The leading explanation would be a familiar one to Apple and other computer manufacturers: lithium ion batteries have been known to overheat and explode in laptops occasionally. But the tiny batteries in the iPod have so far managed to steer clear of that pitfall. (They have attracted many more complaints for being impossible to remove.)

The risk of overheating and fire was why the Federal Aviation Administration banned spare lithium-ion batteries from checked airline baggage and restricted them in carry-on bags at the beginning of the year. But rest assured, those crying babies and high-pitched yammerers will continue to be shut out (somewhat) by your favorite playlists for the foreseeable future.

Smaller batteries installed in cellphones, music players and most laptops are not affected by the ban, only larger ones for audio/visual equipment. Besides, if there turns out to be a problem with the model under investigation in Japan (iPod Nano, model number MA099J/A), it would seem to be limited to the times when it is plugged in for recharging.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/ipod-scare-leads-to-inquiry-in-japan/index.html?ref=technology