InsideTech

News >> Browse Articles >> Apple

News >> Browse Articles >> Gadgets

News >> Browse Articles >> Phones

Exploding iPhone Claims Lead to Investigations

Media reports claiming that one or more iPhones have exploded in Europe have led Apple to investigate, according to Reuters.  

One such report includes the case of an 18-year-old iPhone user in France who claims to have heard a hissing noise coming from his girlfriend’s iPhone before it shattered. The teenager reportedly suffered minimal injuries from the incident, which resulted in his eye being struck by a piece of iPhone glass, as reported by Google.

Helen Kearns, European Commission Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs, explained the following at a news briefing: “Apple has come back to us … and what they’ve said to us is that they consider these are isolated incidents. They don’t consider that there’s a general problem.”

“They’re trying to get more information on the specific details of those incidents, and they will do tests as necessary to investigate the possible cause,” Kearns added.

Although the current media reports share a small amount of explosion cases for the iPhone, numerous similar cases have been reported by users of the iPod. According to Google, in late July, Seattle-based television news station KIRO reported that an “alarming number” of iPods had “suddenly burst into flames and smoke, injuring people and damaging property."

KIRO reported on the existence of some 800 pages of iPod-specific documents that included details on 15 burn and fire-related incidents - none of which were serious – reportedly caused by iPods. The Consumer Product Safety pointed out that this number of incident claims existed as low compared to the significantly large amount of the millions of iPods that have been sold.

KIRO eventually concluded that overheated lithium ion batteries appeared to be the main cause of these issues. After Apple implemented new battery technology, incident claims lessened.

As for the case of exploding iPhone claims, a spokesman for Apple Europe Ltd. explained that Apple is aware of the media reports: “We are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don’t have anything further to add.”

© 2009, DailyTech

---