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More Exploding Cellphones In The News

Posted by timothy on from the stick-this-in-your-ear dept.

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?"

12 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. Commercial out-take by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The "Can you hear me now?" guy trying to talk from his neck.

  2. Very Small Percentage by JPM+NICK · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:Very Small Percentage by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      . . .electrical items that catch fire could be considered defective. Are you this lacksadaisical about anything you buy?

      And yet a candle that doesn't catch fire could be considered defective. A candle that isn't defective can burn your house down (or your mom's hair off) even when used as directed. Damned if I'd let my mom buy one of those things, but I can't believe she'd be so lackadaisical as to actually do so.

      Dude, all electrical devices carry a certain risk of fire, your house for instance (yes, your house is most likely an electrical device). I wouldn't go to sleep tonight if I were you. Houses catch fire from inside the walls all the time.

      If the odds of it happening to me are lower than being hit by an asteroid, well, I'll take whatever precautions seem warrented, like feeling the charger/battery the first couple times I use it to see if it's overheating, but no, I'm not going to worry about it much. That way lies madness.

      . . .such items come with warranties about being free from defects. . .

      Warranties do not actually certify that any particular item is defect free. This isn't possible in this particular universe. There is always a risk factor involved. In fact, ironically, that's why products come with "guaruntees," because they can't actually give you one that it won't fail, but can guaruntee that some particular, but as yet unidentified, unit will fail.

      What they can do is give you compensation in the event of failure, which is the sole function of a warranty.

      If you really think they're there to protect you from harm you need to do a good deal more thinking about the nature of risk, which is not a bad idea in general anyway, and you look like you could use it.

      KFG

    2. Re:Very Small Percentage by abulafia · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The companies should do everything they can to prevent catastrophic failures of their products from harming human life. Yes, even if safety means they can't produce tiny products for tiny prices, I still expect them to make their product safe.

      You have to define your terms. What does "safe" mean? Does it mean that the product will never harm someone? If so, then the product cannot be produced - there is no such thing as a perfectly safe object.

      If you accept that it is acceptable that sold objects can have some margin of risk associated with them, then, yes, your next question comes into play.

      If the phones had a 1 out of 500,000 chance of killing someone, would you still be okay with demanding the low price unsafe product?

      That depends on the price point for more or less safety, the usage pattern, what exactly the "chance of killing someone" means (e.g., over the lifetime of the product, per use, etc.), and the actual utility of the item.

      These are partially actuarial questions, and partially personal utility/economic questions only individuals can make for themselves. There are products out there that have much higher death/serious injury risks associated with them that are happily bought and sold every day (think parachutes and prescription drugs, for starters).

      Bruce Schneier has a great quote about this:

      More people are killed every year by pigs than by sharks, which shows just how good we are at evaluating risks.
      - Bruce Schneier
      Another example: More children drown every year in 5 gallon buckets than due to guns. I see no "million mom marches" against these preventable deaths, even though safety features could be thought up to prevent bucket drownings at significantly less cost-per-unit than some of the features proposed for guns. (Sorry, I couldn't find a reference for that figure on buckets online - I read it in the Economist some time back.)

      If you don't accept that safety is an economic tradeoff, you'll never be able to make rational choices about safety.

      (For my part, I hate cell phones, so I don't have one because the (negative) utility of the product is certainly not worth the cost - no risk analysis needed.)

      --
      I forget what 8 was for.
  3. Future news TSA bans batteries and beer on flights by Sai+Babu · · Score: 5, Informative

    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!
  4. Driving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd be a lot more afraid of getting run over by a cell phone talkin' driver than my own cell phone exploding...

  5. What??? by isa-kuruption · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  6. I guess the real trick... by automag · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...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."
  7. Hazardous devices by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    > Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?

    Warning! Using this device in public places such as movie theaters or churches may result in a vigorous ass beating.
    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  8. Re:answer in short by vespazzari · · Score: 5, Funny

    we should probably have warnings on powder blue crayons too. cause god know how bad it is when one of those gets jammed up your nose and i know from experience that this happens all the time same with screwdrivers and pencils and pens, and come to think of it every other pointy object, they dont have warnings- it must be ok. There comes a point when people stop paying attention to warnings because they already know that they know better, which is often the case- the problem with this is that more often than not, truly important warnings get glossed over becuase they are assumed to be the regular "do not light on fire", "not to be taken internally", etc... ... extended warranty, how can i lose!

    --
    "Alcohol, cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" -Homer Simpson
  9. Don't automatically blame the manufacturer.. by cheddarlump · · Score: 5, Informative

    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)

  10. Rapid Disassembly by mr100percent · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!!!.....