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More Exploding Cellphones In The News
adityapandey writes "It's happened again. Yahoo News has another story on exploding cellphones. Most of these mishaps are blamed on counterfeit batteries and chargers. Recently, Kyocera recalled about 40,000 cellphones for free replacement, because of batteries overheating and venting superheated gases. Yet, cellphone makers claim that such incidents are too rare to care about. Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?"
Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?"
Yes.
I don't need a signature.
The "Can you hear me now?" guy trying to talk from his neck.
Get the Department of Defense together with Verizon and para-drop a shitload of cellphones in Mosul and other Iraqi hot-spots with flyers on how the insurgents can call their friends.
Instead, they'll be calling Allah.
"Can we blow you up now?" "Good."
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
170 million cell phones and 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire in the past two years. 83/170,000,000 = 4.88 x 10^-7. To me, this is way within acceptable margin of error or uncontrollability. Think about how many computer power supplies have shorted out and caught fire (i have had 2 at my job in the last year, and we only have 17 computers). It is a shame, and I am sure it is painful for the people and i do feel bad, but lets not get out of hand with this.
83 cell phones have exploded or caught fire--but there are millions that haven't, so it is not a big deal.
Hmmm... How well did that logic work against Ephedra or Firestone Wilderness AT tires?
TSA completes calculation (2+2) and determines cell phone and computer batteries pose a greater threat aboard planes than boxcutters of nail clippers. Well maybe not yet, but if trends continue, perhaps. In this article we read of exploding batteries and increasing power density. "If you're cramming more and more power in a small space, what you're making is a small bomb," said Carl Hilliard...
Exploding batteries have already caused disruption at LAX.
The subject of potential weapons on planes has been beat to death, but the battery angle is still interesting. Especially when you consider that a weapons intimidation power is more a function of public perception than killing power. The more press exploding batteries receive, the greater the perceived danger. Never mind that a torn beer can can do more damage.
Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle!
"Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?"
i dunno. How 'bout *not* making them hazardous to use? Wtf is QA doing anyway? Drinking on the job?
hrm...i take that back...even i was lit, i'd still notice a smoldering cell on the test rack.
I'd be a lot more afraid of getting run over by a cell phone talkin' driver than my own cell phone exploding...
Seems to me that there's no better way to ensure that companies will do all they can to cover up the problems with their products when they know that any admittal of problems is only going to cause negative publicity, lawsuits, etc.
---As my daddy used to tell me: "You gotta be smart before you can be a smartass."
Most of these mishaps are blamed on counterfeit batteries and chargers.
and then...
Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?
So you want cellphone companies to tell you to not buy batteries off of ebay, but only one of their batteries from one of their approved resellers? And then you'll be complaining about unfair business practices, how they are trying to monopolize the battery business, etc etc.
Several years ago, I read an article predicting that cell phones would explode in the coming years. They were right!!
Unknown host pong.
Cell phone companies already warn against using third party batteries which are often substandardly made. The risk is even greater with regards to Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer batteries which require additional protection circuitry to prevent overheading / overcharging. Poorly made knockoffs often do not have these safety mechanisms or are not properly compatible with the power management subsystem in the mobiles.
Not much to see here, don't buy shoddy accessories.
low level radiation, etc... My old Nokia phone used to make my monitor flicker really bad if a call was coming in and would actually turn on my cordless electric shaver if it was near by. (Yes, I got rid of it)
Now I have a mental image I can bring forth when I see someone talking on the cell phone in a movie theater or when I out at a nice restaurant.
News Reporters Make Tasty Polar Bear Treats!
Can you hear me n*BOOM*
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Now, don't get me wrong, I feel bad for anyone who put a burning hot device up against their face, but 83 people?
83 reports of this in the past 2 years - out of what, 100,000,000 cell-phone users? That's is extremley rare.
I'm not saying such a problem should be ignored, but you can't expect anyone to prioritize it when occurences are so rare.
and how many of the 83 reports of 'exploding batteries' were due to misuse? "the box didn't say I couldn't put my phone in the microwave"
..mork
It's funny, as most people here get all pissy when Nokia introduces protection for their phones by allowing nokia-only batteries to be used. Guess what? It's for this exact thing. Nokia can't rate every battery each company comes out with for their phones, yet if one blows up, it's the phone manufacturer (not the battery manufacturer) who gets the bad press. It's protecting their business, pure and simple. :)
Couple of years ago Motorola was announcing to everyone and his dog, that it will install drm-like chips in its batteries to "solve the problem of counterfeit, exploding batteries".
I don't know if they actually started to do this, but I'm sure that it had nothing to do with vendor's batteries being sometimes an order of magnitude more expensive than generic, good brand betteries of the same parameters.
Robert
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
...is figuring out how *I* can make *your* cellphone explode when you're being a loud a**hole and chatting away at the next table, or what have you...
---As my daddy used to tell me: "You gotta be smart before you can be a smartass."
"In later news, the FAA has banned all batteries from all flights... Little Timmy won't be able to play his gameboy on those long flights."
> Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
For a company not to have a legal disclaimer somewhere would be an incredible oversight. It's probably written in the manual somewhere - "Don't use counterfeit batteries, use ours..with 200% sales markup instead".
If you're like most Americans you either don't RTFM or you decide that the *OEM Only* warning is only fanatical bourgeois vendor propaganda.
So instead you go buy an "Uncle Bob's El'Cheapo Clone Battery - with Extended Long Life (tm)Runtime" from the guy wearing the long trenchcoat down the street.
Tyler: "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."
...will my tinfoil hat protect me from my exploding cell phone?
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
Lithium ion batteries, so popular for their power density, are inherently unstable if they are overcharged or become too hot (about 140 F is the threshold). As a spokesperson for one battery maker said "When you heat this material up, it (can) reach an onset temperature that begins to self-heat and progresses into fire and explosion." One battery company claims to make a "safe" battery that uses phosphates, not cobalt oxides in its lithium ion. They even have a video demonstration that we can slashdot.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
....of using cellphones? I don't think so. First, any mandated "awareness" is going to end up being much like the warnings on over-the-counter medicines--vague warnings in legalese/medicalese, printed in flyspeck 8, on whatever packaging said phone comes in. Other than compulsive readers like myself, who actually reads that?
Also, let's let Darwinism have a chance for once, and weed the idiots out who use the "counterfeit" betteries. As for those who unluckily got one through the cellphone ssupplier....well, shows the survivors that it's not a good idea to shop there.
Of course, just so it's clear, I also think they should take the warning tags off of hair dryers...just to see how many people decide to dry their hair in the bathtub. It's a nice quick fix for population control, anyway, ne?
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?
Of course not. How do you expect the Corporations and their henchmen (collectivley known as The Man(TM)) to turn a significant profit in The Free Market(TM) by scaring away customers in such a manner? What a horrible capitolist you must be, you anti-American pinko ingrate.
What if cell malware like Skulls could be used to cause the battery to explode? Perhaps by modifying the firmware to overcharge or overload the battery? A well-written worm would have them going off like popcorn...
perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
"Warning! Anti-matter Containment field failure in 3 seconds" Now that would be Enterprising! :)
> "If you're cramming more and more power in a small space, what you're making is a small bomb," said Carl Hilliard, president of the California-based Wireless Consumers Alliance,
Hmm.. I wonder how long it will be before we're not allowed to take cellphones on planes for fear of them being used as bombs?
Never mind that a torn beer can can do more damage.
Lou: That sounded like an explosion at the old Simpson place.
Wiggum: Forget it, That's two blocks away.
Lou: Looks like there's beer coming from the chimney.
Wiggum: I am proceeding on foot, call in a code 8.
Lou: We need pretzels, repeat, pretzels.
"If you're cramming more and more power in a small space, what you're making is a small bomb," said Carl Hilliard..."
Well, that's a fundamental misunderstanding of bombs and batteries.
Oddly Draconis
Too cynical to live, too stubborn to die.
That there is a one in a million chance that the battery may burst into flames? I suppose that's a good use of everyone's attention span.....
I thought they were supposed to do that.
... in StarTrek, one of the standard ways of getting out of a tricky situation would be to 'switch my phaser to overload', throw it round the corner and hide.
Five seconds later, loud bang, and no problem .. er, no wall ... and possibly no building .... depending on the charge left in the battery at the time.
Don't you remember
I work at a cell-phone store, and you would not believe what people do to their phones. I have seen phones get hot, vent hot gas, catch fire, bulge and almost pop, etc. In each case, it was because of something the customer had done to damage their phone. Usually, it's water damage, teenie bopper kids taking their phone into the shower cuz they can't miss that one important call. Or, even more benignly, (is that a Bushism?) if you have a little bit of drippings in your car's cupholder, and throw the phone in there when you get in the car, guess where the charging circuitry is located? Usually in the bottom of the phone. So, the next time you go plug your phone in, instead of the beautifully complex current-limiting charging circuit, you have yesterday's mocha providing a dead short.. BOOM. Please, PLEASE look to the stupid masses for the cause BEFORE blaming the manufacturers. I know there are bad designs out there, but 99.999999999 times out of a hundred, it's the idiots using them everyday. really. (flame suit on)
... ending with X that makes you deaf? Exploding cell phone?? Damn! That has more than three letters.
Free Firefox news reader.
Unless you pour it in someone's nose.
Tyler: "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up.
"New" cars haven't had rear differentials for like over a whole decade (the overwhelming vast majority of new cars anyway). About the only American cars left that are still rear-wheel drive are the Ford Mustang, Ford Crown Vic, Mercury Grand Marquis, Chevy Corvette.
Take two 9-volt batteries. Shove them together at the contacts and back up really fast. Check it out. BOOOM!
Vote Quimby!
"A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 miles per hour. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field (A) multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B) then multiply the result by the average out of court settlement (C). A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of the recall, we don't do one."
It all comes down to money.
Personally, the low number of incidents does make this pretty insignificant.
-- i am jack's amusing sig file
...that we need to be careful when using hands free and not set the damn things in our laps. :)
This sounds like a job for ...
Da Da Ta Daaaa
The Federal Copyright Enforcement Czar !
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
And what injury could you sustain from a bad DVD?
Flying shards of plastic coming out of your DVD player comes to mind.
Michael Sathre, who is expected to fully recover from his wounds, was picking his fully charged Verizon LG cell phone off the floor when it exploded by his side.
Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?
I think they outta start by disclosing the effects of high levels of radiation emitted directly into the brain.
The point is that companies actually use these formulas to calculate whether to do a recall or not. Well, that and it's a nice quote.
And it was the Narrator, not Tyler.
-- i am jack's amusing sig file
Be careful. There's a potential of lawsuites in th every litigious American society.
Cb..
because of batteries overheating and venting superheated gases
Umm, it was my phone, honest
I recently found a new battery for my Motorola, after searching for several weeks. I am in the UK btw. No doubt it's a "counterfeit", but I am pleased to find one of any sort.
"Car Phone Warehouse" at Bristol Cribbs Causeway is listed on the Motorola Web site as one of their Agents. When I asked them for a new battery they treated me as crazy. I asked therefore what was meant by their being a Motorola "agent", and they said their workshop could provide "spares" but the battery was a "consumable", not a "spare"! And they did not keep "consumables" for my phone because it had been discontinued for over a year. I said it was precisely because the phone was that old that the battery needed replacing, all the more reason why they should sell them.
Several other shops found batteries under the counter that were almost but not quite the same size, shape, and contact layout. Every model of phone seems to have different battery. Why can't there be standardisation?
I was persistent, but most users must sling their phone when the battery is clapped. So much for environmental responsibility.
Well, given over half of the people in the world have them...I congratulate Bush on finding the weapons of mass destruction....of were these the weapons of mass communication?
...and if they are not treated right, they will vent or explode. The little cell phone lipo battery is nothing compared to a high discharge 2100ma three cell lipo that go off like a cherry bomb if you overcharge it, or punchure it during a crash. But then again, model airplane fuel is very volitle, and has a hight nitro content. So either way, you have to be careful. Batteries are like any other power sources, they can be dangerous if not treated right.
I have read quite a few horry stories about guys burning up model planes that took hundreds of hours to build, and automobiles and workshops because they did not take the proper safey precautions when dealing with these batteries.
ofc, that's only because it's not you.
talk about insecure.. it is when the truth is considered to be flamebait I think that the terrorist win ;)
So what the mods are saying is that these exploding phones are not same old-same old FUD mongering?
You can't handle the truth.
If you're packing the battery with more and more volatile chemicals that may explode to get that power, it's quite right.
If you believe that some small fraction of the Iraqi population is just trying to defend their homes from ruthless invaders, well, what about the rest of the people there? Why isn't this resistance universal? How come there are so few "defending" and why do they kill other Iraqi civilians while "defending" their homes?
How about there is a small fraction of the population that wants to oppress the others and don't care if some of those others get killed in the process. They have been in power for 40 years or so because we put them there and it is about time we cleaned up our mess. The US is finally taking responsibility for putting a madman in power in Iraq and stomping out his fellow travelers that had a piece of the action before.
As to Iraq threatening people, sure - while the sanctions were in place they were shooting at US and UK planes patrolling the no-fly zone. They had lots of preparations for the sanctions being over with and lots of folks in EU ready and willing to sell them all sorts of weapons and chemicals to wreak havoc on Israel and their other neighbors. Threats? No, of course you are correct - Iraq was no threat to the US as long as we don't trade with anybody and keep on our side of the oceans. That might be the better solution, but I don't see it getting implemented anytime soon. So, yes, they were a threat to the stability of the region and to the credibility of the UN.
Sounds like something an aussie girl would put on before going clubbing.
Yeah, I wanted to quote that... but looks like I wasn't the only one. It's from Fight Club. I think it says it all.
If just a few people get their faces burned, we (companies) don't care. If it costs us less than a recall, we don't do it.
Come on! Is that a nice world to live in? Capitalist scum.
reason defies logic
I've seen footage of people at gas stations, using their cellphone while pumping gas, and the air around them erupts in a ball of flame... Scary stuff, man. I've heard of being flamed, but that's just rediculous!
"hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
Never skimp. Always go with the genuine deal.
I once bought a third-party charger for one of my phones. I returned it in a day because I could tell that it was doing some really funky crap.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
The http://www.modelaircraft.org/safetycom.asp/ Academy of Model Aeronautics has a pretty strong waring about improperly handling these battery types.
Specifically, the higher engery storage capability of LiPo has more potential than NiCad's for catastrofic failure.
some of the R/C battery manufactures are putting saftey circuits directly into the battery pack, but you still have an issue if you short circuit a LiPo pack - they will smoke.
Since a cell phone does not need a high rate discarge like R/C applications, pwerhaps a saftey fuse would be in order, built directly into the battery. That way when some keys get jammed into the base of the phone, it doesn't catch fire.
...yup...
....To fret about the four-in-a-billion chance that a battery just might go bang! If you really want something to worry about regarding cellphones, how about Suzy the Chlorox-Headed Soccer-Sow careening down the road in her ten-ton dreadnought while fiddling with her phone? Goodness knows I've had a lot more close-shaves from this scenario than I'll ever have with some silly little battery. :P
Regards;
From Cyberdyne, a name you know and trust...
The new T-1000 mobile munitions...er, communications...device combines the latest technology with ergonomic design.
Try the T-1000...it'll blow you away!
I'm not good in groups. It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent. - Q
If you RTFA, in all three cases of battery recall/explosion incidents, the companies in question dropped their suppliers like a hot potato and switched to new suppliers.
In short, the companies did as much as they could to prevent it from ever happening again. Switching suppliers in a short time period is not a small (or cheap) task.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I also work in a cell-phone shop and we do our own repairs. You wouldn't believe it if you saw what people do to their phones.
Water damage is certainly the leading cause of faults like this, especially in the summer when people take their phones wind surfing and poor beer all over it. And of course they still expect it to work normally and get angry when I tell them that the phone can't be repaired or that the warranty is void.
But you also have people soldering in different color LEDs, using batteries featuring only chinese lettering, using metal paperclips te wiggle some dirt or small pieces of paper from the charge connector, you name it. And of course any repairs should ALWAYS be under warranty.
Our costumers (mostly large companies) must have a couple of thousand phones combined, and I have had only ONE (1!!) case where the 'battery became a bit warm'.
I say the odds are very much against YOUR battery exploding if you just follow the manufacterers recommendations.
I remember the delay in getting my phone earlier this year: The press release said the reason for the recall last time was "Kyocera has received four confirmed reports of rapid disassembly."... "Continued use of the phone with the '-05' battery could result in injury in the form of burns due to the battery's rapid disassembly (which may appear as an explosion), or emission of excessive heat."
So in field of Public Relations objects don't explode, they just rapidly disassemble!!!.....
I don't know about you, but I generally don't hold my PSU up to my face when I'm using my PC. Of course laptops are also a risk, but for those that have died it's usually just a lack of power-on and no fancy sparks or fire.
A laptop goes off on one's lap could be a danger, but chances are the desktop isn't so much so. I've had plenty of PSU's go, some smoking nicely - usually a blown cap and never anything that was much of a risk to anything outside the box.
Kyocera made about $2.7B US in profit last year. If they say "Our cell phones are dangerous", they'll loose sales. If they instead, let one or two people blow up every year, they only have to pay out a couple million in lawsuit damages each year. Do the math.
TSA completes calculation (2+2) and determines cell phone and computer batteries pose a greater threat aboard planes than boxcutters of nail clippers. Well maybe not yet, but if trends continue, perhaps.
It's funny you said that. Last year, on a domestic flight in Canada, I wasn't allowed to carry spare AAA batteries for my ancient palm pilot. They claimed it was a safety hazard. The batteries in the palm pilot were ok though.
Is that where they got the idea for that commercial where the guy boasts about this "electric shock" phone and ends up frying his office mate!! ;-)
Even the newer Nokias cause some interference. When my gf's went off it used to make the alarm clock pop and stutter. The alarm would actually start buzzing before the phone rang.
Not sure if it's harmful though, as it could just be your standard interference. Given the proximity of the phone to one's crotch though, the thought of radiation isn't such a good thing.
"In retrospect, lighting the match was my big mistake. But I was only trying to retrieve the gerbil." Eric Tomasewski told bemused doctors in the Severe Burns Unit of Salt Lake City Hospital. Tomaszewski, and his homosexual partner, Andrew "Kiki" Farnum, had been admitted for emergency treatment after a felching session had gone seriously wrong. "I pushed a cardboard tube up his rectum and slipped Raggot, our gerbil, in," he explained. "As usual, Kiki shouted out "Armageddon", my cue that he'd had enough. I tried to retrieve Raggot but he wouldn't come out again, so I peered into the tube and struck a match, thinking the light might attract him."
At a hushed press conference, a hospital spokesman described what happened next. "The match ignited a pocket of intestinal gas and a flame shot out the tube, igniting Mr. Tomaszewski's hair and severely burning his face. It also set fire to the gerbil's fur and whiskers which in turn ignited a larger pocket of gas further up the intestine, propelling the rodent out like a cannonball."
Tomaszewski suffered second degree burns and a broken nose from the impact of the gerbil, while Farnum suffered first and second degree burns to his anus and lower intestinal tract.
(Yes, I know it's an Urban Legend -- still funny as all get out though...)
load "windows7"
Is that your phone is considered a consumable. Useful for a limited time, then you should fork over more cash and buy a new one.
No seriously, as with many other electronic products the return/exchange rates on phones are very high. Many of the things are really quite fragile and over time will severely degrade in performance, battery life, etc.
Your phone a splode!
Care to share any of the indisputable footage?
Predictive text is shiv!
According to Bruce Schneier in "Beyond Fear", after 9/11, the TSA wanted to ban cigarettes and cigarette lighters as well. Very reasonably, because these lighters contain actual combustible material which can easily be used to create an improvised bomb (I'm not an expert, but I imagine if you blow up a regular rubber baloon with a certain amount of air, and then dump the contents of your lighter in there as well, that you've got a good chance of a big explosion) or to simply set the seat in front of you alight.
However, the tobacco lobby stepped in, called their friends in senate, congress and white house, and as a result, nail clippers are now banned but cigarette lighters are not.
I guess the Nail Clipper Association of America needs more lobbyists...
Warning:
The use of this device may cause large carniverous fish to attack you while walking down the streat in New York
. May attract the ledgendary figure known as big foot with cute ring tones which could result in user getting fleas.
A piece of blue ice may fall from the sky and crush your girlfriend who just happens to be sleeping with your brother at his place
You may unknowningly discover the lost city of Atlan......
excuse me while I call that coworker I hate.... I wonder how long I can keep him on the phone.
Obama is a twitter sock puppet
The third comment on the last link scares my brains out. Really. How far has it come that ordinary people write lines along these into ordinary webpages about batteries'n'stuff? What is wrong with the world and its people?
.
Read for yourself:
1/10/2002
My father served during WW II in Burma India. As an Engineer in the Army building roads and landing strips , he told this story many times. A Jeep came in to Motor Pool where he was working that day with ignition problems and he proceeded to check the battery first . Simply hooking a tester to the battery caused an explosion.
The only thing that saved his eyes was the prescription glasses he was wearing , with fast action from some very well trained Medics his face survived too but , just because they were RIGHT THERE and knew what to do !!!
Master Sgt. . Willett M. Bruner went on to fight many battles while preparing the way for many more G.I.'s to join him and many others in securing our freedom during this war.
God rest the soul of Master Sgt. Willett M. Bruner and every other person who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our Freedom
Col. James L. Bruner
Emphasis mine. This is fascism. Today.
Wait, how do we know that these cell phone "explosions" are accidents? Maybe Israel has hijacked the cellphones and is trying to assasinate everyone now.
rm -rf sig
Simply don your Slashdot-approved tin hat (available now at OSDN.com), as it has built-in protection from cell phone radiation. Make sure to use the supplied grounding strap, affixing the free end firmly to the steel pad on the bottom of your shoe.
I've realized why the cell phone makers aren't concerned about random explosions. It just saves their users from succombing to brain cancer. Humane, in a way, and cheaper to litigate.
sigs, as if you care.
I had toys as a kid in the 70s that were more dangerous. We actually wanted them to blow up, and at times we made them blow up. Dogs ran around bitting us and we thought it was fun. We rode our bikes, crashed and laughed. I wish I had a Pinto.
Instead, I'm going to invest in a helmet company. I won't be happy, but I'll make a killing.
Obviously you've never heard of Google either.
History of meteorite strikes
Girl hit by meteorite?
Ask (aka annoy) Cornell's Astro dept
Just because a phone has a warranty doesn't mean that it's going to be defect free. It's up to the manufacturer to ensure that the components and assembly is up to a high enough standard to produce a quality product.
I suppose we could always go back to bag phones with sealed lead acid batteries, those were mostly safe. You certainly wouldn't hear about one exploding in someone's pants pocket.
I'm totally agreeing with this whole thread - nothing is 100% safe but there are acceptable ratios of defects.
Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
Lets see, I just turned off my cell phone, pulled out the battery and now i read:
"CAUTION: Please read the user's guide before using the battery as it may cause fire, overheating and other hazards"
As boring as they are, they do provide manuals for a reason.
"Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?" ... that is ruining childhoods across the world by forcing kids to wear seat belts and helmets when riding bikes.
I hate you.
god you're a fucking moron.
microwave's "significant effect" on biological matter is simply due to the fact that most biological matter is largely comprised of asymetrical molecules--such as water. big deal. warms up matter? yes. cancerous? no.
you know how the idea of using microwaves was found? a candy bar in a guy's pocket melted because of the waves. people have been exposed to (low) levels of microwaves for years without any adverse effects.
in my opinion, it's foolish to think that these electronics are a hazard to our bodies due to their radiation. sorta like people who believe that living next to a coal-based power plant is safer than living next to nuclear power plant.
Cell phones aren't the only devices using Li Ion batteries. Many new laptop and handheld computers as well as digicams also use them. Why havn't we heard reports of exploding cameras and computers? Could the microwave rf emitted by cellphones be cooking the batteries?
Instructions for reassembly were also included.
Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
If anyone is familiar with the show in the US called "Myth Busters" they did this exact thing. They tried and tried to get the thing to explode to no avail...so they put it in a plexi-glass like container and filled it with a mix of gas fumes and oxygen and called the cell, STILL NO explosion. the only damn way THEY could get the thing to go off was to put an actual spark in the chamber with it.
:)
There are *so* many things that can go wrong with cellphones that if I were to see one exploding I'd first ask "what was the condition of the phone prior to the explosion?" People are STUPID...I used to do tech support, I KNOW this
Asmodeus
Your mind is like a parachute. It works best when it's been opened.
...to the phrase "blowin' up my celly"
But I am just SO tired of cell phones. People want to drive while they talk on them, but they really can't - swerving, slowing down in traffic, whatever - dangerous and a pain in the ass. Not to mention the way the signal drops out, no matter what the user is doing. I am SO tired of talking to people on their cell phones and losing the connection, or one of us not being able to hear the other.
We got along before we had cellphones, I really think we could continue to. Personally I don't want to have people being able to contact me every moment of the day, nor do I need to take it into the grocery store to send my wife a picture of the damn steaks I want to buy. For some people they are literally life savers, but for the most part they are intrusive and rude - as are the people who use them everywhere.
Cell phones, just say NO!
I mod down all the "free iPod"-sig losers.
My favorite anti-skyjack weapon of self defense is a garrot. It'e really easy to make. All you have to carry is a small coil of stainless steel fishing leader (piano wire). A guitar string works too. You can secure the ends of the wire to a pair of tennis shoes, or a couple of big keys from your keyring. I carry a pair of big keys. Garrot using very thin wire is fast and deadly. A simple parry and you can have it around the neck of someone making a frontal assualt before he knows what's happened to him and a couple of quick twists and he won't be able to get it off in the short time he has to live.
I can vouch for this - I saw the same episode.
Merely using a cellphone isnt going to cause any explosions, unless there is already something wrong with the phone (eg, im sure if the phone *itself* exploded, due to some battery problem like the ones this article describes, while someone is filling their tank with gas, it might cause a problem)
...a friend of mine took his phone out with him in a heavy storm, and it got rather water damaged. He decided he'd "dry out the phone" by taking the battery out, and placing it on his radiator...luckily, we were all in the room at the time, and able to enlighten him somewhat...
Despite what the storey headline says, the cell-phone industry is not well served by telling everyone that their products could explode and cause injury.
So they're not going to make sure to tell consumers about it unless they have no choice. And until they can be shown it really happens with their products which are used as designed, they may not believe it.
In reality, the way industry will make this decision is a cost-benefit analysis. In the airline industry, for example, wether or not to do a refit/new safety measure/etc is defined by a formula which measures how often it's likely to happen, and how much it costs if it did.
Using an average industry payout of $2mil/death (I think that's close), a $20 million upgrade will only happen if 10 people are expected to die from it. If the math says the upgrade is cheaper than paying for deaths, it gets done. If 3 people might die over 20 years, then the math says it's cheaper to let people die and pay settlements than to make the change.
It would be naive to think that the cell-phone industry is going to start running around saying "oh my god, they exploded".
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Obviously sloppy language. Sorry. I meant "More children drown every year in 5 gallon buckets than die due to guns."
I forget what 8 was for.
I work in radio and carry a cell phone around with me into the studio every day. I shut the phone off BEFORE I enter the control room, because, well, I don't want it to distract me or the host or the engineer.
....
However, even with the phone off, it causes interference. Sometimes, lets say someone is attempting to call me, but the phone is off, feedback and noise will interefere with the audio monitors in the control room! You wont hear it on air, but you will hear it in your headphones... thus, the host hears it, we hear it, but you, the listener, have no clue as to the sound effects we are inadvertently getting in the studio. It has a distinct sounding RING to it, but only for about 5 seconds. I'm guessing this is the signal sent out to see if my phone is indeed on or off, and then appropriately forward it to my voicemail. It's an older Panasonic phone, and I still haven't learned my lesson and bring it into the studio anyway.
After reading this article, I'm not sure if it is even safe to carry it in my pocket as I normally do
If you want the non exploding phone attachment from sprint, its only $5/month with a 2 year agreement, and its free for the first 2 months.
As several others have also posted: Myth Busted! Too bad it wasn't true though, Darwin's List at work I say. For decades we all have known that electrical devices in operation have the habit of sparking on occasion. Using an electric device while pumping gas? WTF?!!? These morons should leave their cell phone in the car and just "flick their Bic(TM)" instead-much better chances of fireball!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
you know, your technical knowledge does make me think you really ARE a cell phone store clerk.
maybe we can save $$$ in the electronics industry by using mocha lattes instead of solder now.
What a load of crap. The kid does not need a cell phone. I survived adolescence without said device, and I believe that several billion others have as well.
It is good that he is getting over this and moving on with his life. But he should try to get a real life and not become dependant on this particular convenience.
Anti-phone curmudgeon
if you look carefully, kyocera was NOT REPLACING PHONES, they were replacing batteries. same goes for their current replacement program
http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/battery.htm
My auto mech had NEVER seen this happen. And we could never figure out what caused it.
Car was a 1978 Toyota Corolla Hatchback (woohoo).
Strange stuff, but I have seen it happen before....
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
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You can't take your cellphone on an airplane? OR Al-Qaeda making a secret deal with Kyocera to buy all their stock? crazy!
My other dog is a Wienerschnitzel.
How long until a company starts marketing a "cellphone helmet" to protect users from these terrible attacks? It'll sell as well as those "block cancer-causing cellphone radiation" patches.
NiCds didn't explode due to the smallest problem. Some counterfit batteries are also either NiCd or NiMh anyway. By the time LiIon came out we were able to go back to NiCd (digital phones).
Now, when the hazard comes from regular use of the item, like... talking on your cell phone, well if said phone can explode, or "vent superheated gases" on me, I think I would like to know.
Anything with a battery, yes, ANYTHING WITH A BATTERY can explode and do the same. I've seen a gameboy in use for hours on end have its alkaline AA's explode. There's been recalls on laptops where batteries explode / overheat. It's not very common, but it happens. It definately sucks for the consumer, and if it happened to me I would definately pressure my provider into getting me expensive phone for free or something, but not burden the legal system with such petty bullshit.
Yet, cellphone makers claim that such incidents are too rare to care about.
Some of you may be familiar with the Therac-25 incidents, but those were a perfect examples as to why "occational" mishaps cannot be ignored.
The Therac-25 was an inovative cancer treatment machine that shot electrons at the cancerous area. There were very few machines in the country, and they were quite buggy but over 20,000 treatments were successfully administered before any issues occured.
The machine would usually deliver approximatly 200 rads to a patient. However during an unpredictable malfunction it shot over 15,000 rads at the patient. The first women that had recieved such a large amount of radiation had a hole burned through her chest... It took 2 years, and multiple similar accidents resulting in death, for the machine to be taken out of use.
If we agree that this whole cell phone explosion issue can be disregarded, aren't we allowing for worse things to occur in the future?
If anyone wants to read more about the Therac-25, it can be found here: http://www.ccnr.org/fatal_dose.html
This is what pisses me off about news these days. I just saw a news story about this problem on TV, and the anchor said very clearly that it's exclusively a problem with counterfeit batteries. And then, the cell-phone company spokesman followed that up by saying in his interview that it's a problem that is likely to only harm a handful of people.
Did any of these thousands of news-people speak up and say that these are blatant lies? No. The News, today, is 50% corporate press releases, and political BS. The other 50% is just rumors and banal details about anyone remotely famous.
If I hear another 10-minute long interview of some actress complaining non-stop about how hard it was preparing for a minor stunt in their latest movie, I just might throw something heavy through the TV screen.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
"If you're packing the battery with more and more volatile chemicals that may explode to get that power, it's quite right."
Okay, well I'm going to take a seat, and you're going to explain the circumstances where the volatile chemicals are being packed into space to create BATTERY BOMBS.
No, seriously, take your time. This should be good.
Oddly Draconis
Too cynical to live, too stubborn to die.
"It took my son two months to decide to even be near a cell phone," said his mother, Cris. "But he needs one."
Thirteen years old and he needs a cell phone?
Hey Lady, fuck you.
Teach him to carry an extra couple of quarters in his pocket.
s'wut i sed.
As usual, excellent service from Jessops staff - immediate acceptance of there being a problem; replacement of entire cell set (I had brought a pack of 4 cells) and charger) and offer of recompense appopriate to the damage caused (I asked them to send it to a charity of their choice). Jessops are considering a recall, but have already taken the offending stock off their store shelves.
The offending cells can be identified by a WHITE plastic surround to the positive contact; the replacement stock has a BLACK plastic surround to the anode. Take your old stock in for replacement.
TTBOMK, this only applies to Jessops own-brand 2000 mAh NiMH cells. But if you know the manufacturer (the plastic anode surrounds are quite distinctive), then they may have other lines with similar problems.
Jessops website
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"