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.

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Exploding iPod touch sets kid’s pants on fire, melts his underwear, causes untold emotional pain originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While things like copy and paste, multimedia messaging and video calling are nice extras to have, there’s really only one thing that’s most important when it comes to a reliable cellphone: the 911 functionality. Evidently, around 30,000 LG 830 Spyder handsets aren’t having the easiest time dialing for help, with a product recall noting that a huge swath of ‘em have “difficulty sustaining a connection or have poor voice quality on calls to emergency 911.” It should be noted, however, that LG’s actually being really, really proactive here, as it has only received a single report (and no injuries) to date. The Spyder phones affected have software versions T83LGV03 and T83LGV04, and you can hit the read link if you suspect yours is amongst that 30,000.

[Via textually]

Filed under: Cellphones

LG recalls 30,000 830 Spyder handsets for crappy 911 connections originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quick… fire. Quickfire. Our brains are melting (as are the phones, apparently).

Follow the break for AT&T’s email to customers.

Continue reading AT&T Quickfire could overheat, spontaneously burst into irony if charged incorrectly

Filed under: Cellphones

AT&T Quickfire could overheat, spontaneously burst into irony if charged incorrectly originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey Sony — we know that experiencing your first annual operating loss in 14 years calls for drastic measures, but this is bordering on downright rash. Barely a month after announcing that 16,000 employees would be axed, Sony has now revealed plans to close one of its two television plants in Japan and rid itself of 2,000 domestic full-time jobs as it attempts to “revive its electronics business.” Of note, it’s stated that those 2,000 — which seem to be a part of the previously mentioned 16,000 figure — will be shed via “early retirement and other programs.” Just think what a 40-inch XEL-1 would do for business. No, seriously Sony, just think.

[Image courtesy of DigitalWorldTokyo]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Sony to shutter Japanese TV plant as part of restructuring efforts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we heard from ioSafe they were taking 2.5-inch HDDs, wrapping them in armor, then stuffing them into 3.5-inch enclosures — adding fire and water protection in a standard form factor. Now they’ve given up on the internal route and have gone for something a little larger and more durable, fitting Western Digital or Seagate disks into hardened external USB 2.0 cases capable of being submersed in ten feet of water for three days or surviving a raging inferno for 30 minutes. $199 gets you a 500GB model, but, since you’d probably have a hard time upgrading the drive in there without a jackhammer, we’d recommend going straight for the $349 1.5TB model — early adopters get a tidy $50 off!

Update: Jason commented to let us know they also use Seagate drives.

Filed under: Storage

ioSafe announces Solo, the external, submersable, fire-proof HDD enclosure originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinesis’ K2 solar / wind charger will power any USB device and is guaranteed to disappoint people mistaking it for a handheld fan. Of course, if you’re feeling less environmental, feel free plug it into an AC outlet to reenergize the thing. Anticipating popular demand, we’ve put video after the break.

[Via OhGizmo!]

Continue reading Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s nice to know that some celebrities can still take time out from making millions of dollars and espousing their political beliefs in order to set their genitals ablaze on occasion. Monsters and Critics reports:

Robert Downey Jr. set his crotch on fire while shooting his new film.

The actor, who plays fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie’s latest project, was smoking the character’s famous pipe in one scene when the ash fell onto his lap and set his trousers alight.

A source said: “Robert leaped from his armchair and jumped up and down, slapping his crotch and howling, ‘Oh God, I’m on fire!’ Robert had placed the pipe on a plate on the arm of the chair, but it overbalanced and plopped into his lap, scattering lit tobacco all over his pants.”

Luckily, Robert’s co-star Jude Law—who plays Holmes’ sidekick Dr. Watson in the movie—was on hand to extinguish the flames and save the star from singeing his privates.

The source added: “While Robert was screaming and swatting his pants, quick-thinking Jude saved the day by flinging water from a flower vase at Robert’s naughty area.”

Robert emerged unscathed from the incident, but production was halted while the wardrobe department found him a new pair of trousers to wear.

At least this time it was an accident. Last time Robert Downey Jr. set his own crotch on fire it was because he thought his pubes were broadcasting radio waves transmitted by the CIA ordering him to assassinate Dick Van Patten for the good of the country. To be fair, crack was involved. And Dick Van Patten really is an evil bastard.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Performance Designed Products’ Rage Wireless Guitar isn’t the most well known Guitar Hero peripheral out there, but that’s apt to change in a hurry after this. Said instrument has just been recalled after the company received a single report of a burn after the user self-pwnt him / herself by installing the AA batteries incorrectly. Apparently the circuit board within the axe is “defective” in such a way that it causes cells to leak if they are inserted in an incorrect manner, and thus, it poses a risk of chemical burn to the rocker handling it. Interestingly, consumers who own one are instructed to return the thing to the original place of purchase rather than PDP itself, so we’d recommend wrapping your arm in gauze and printing out the read link to help your case if you’ve trashed the receipt.

[Via SlipperyBrick]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Thanks, MIT. Why don’t you just make the rest of the world feel a little more useless. Every week or so, we’re forced to stare at yet another amazing invention coming from your doors; to be frank, it’s just downright unfair. All childish angst aside, the latest idea to come from the institution is one that could certainly be put to good use: a self-sustaining sensor network that taps into trees for power in order to continuously monitor forests for threats of fire. Moreover, the concept could be applied in other scenarios as well — to detect potential threats such as smuggled contraband along a nation’s borders, perhaps. Testing of the wireless sensor network (developed by the appropriately named Voltree Power) is scheduled to begin next spring, and we’re hearing that pot-sniffing turtles may even be brought in to create a completely natural self-policing environment.

[Via Inhabitat]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Details on this one are remarkably skimpy, but here are the facts as we know them. A fire caused around $30,000 worth of damage to a mobile home in Delaware this past week, but thankfully, the Millsboro and Indian River firefighters found no one home at the time of the incident. The culprit? A “malfunctioning cellphone charger that ignited the wall covering in a bedroom.” That’s it, folks — no manufacturer, no brand name, nothing. In other words, unplug your chargers when you leave the house… or store your home in a fireproof safe, either one.

[Thanks, Carl]

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Uh oh. At about 10pm pacific time, a 3-alarm fire (about 66 firefighters responding) was reported at Apple’s Valley Green Six building on Apple’s Cupertino campus. The site which is just down the road from the Infinite Loop HQ is said to be an R&D building by Apple personnel — Apple has not confirmed this. The fire seems to be under control with no reported injuries although it’s too soon for any kind of damage estimates. As surreal as it sounds, The Mercury News reports that, “Some Apple employees stopped by to look at the scene and snap pictures on their I-phones.” And fiddle, presumably. Hit the read link for a local news video report.

[Via MercuryNews, thanks Jeff T.]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Hey you. Yeah, you. You’re about to beam that resume facsimile-style to a prospective employer, aren’t you? If said machine is a Hewlett-Packard Fax 1010 or 1010xi, we’re recommend firing (ahem) it over through email instead. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with HP, has issued a voluntary recall for the aforementioned fax machines after receiving three reports of “overheating,” two of which resulted in “minor property damage.” If you just so happen to own one of these machines, and you’d prefer your abode not be burned to the ground anytime soon, we’d suggest following the read link and applying for your rebate. After you unplug the machine and shove it in the freeze, of course.

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Filed under: Gaming

Sure, you’ve heard the horror stories of faulty Xbox power cables sparking up fires in homes, but it seems the latest case involves the aforesaid console’s successor: the Xbox 360. According to Little Rock, Arkansas fire department captain Jason Weaver, a 360’s power cord was to blame for a blaze that injured no one (thankfully) but caused some $100,000 in property damage. Mr. Weaver asserted that the power supply was likely crammed in a tight spot with no “space to dissipate heat,” and while we’ve certainly seen no shortage of overheating Xbox 360s, this marks the first time that we’ve seen high temperatures wreak havoc on more than just the machine’s internals. Here’s to hoping this isn’t the start of a dreadful trend.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia’s decision to close that factory in Bochum, Germany and move its operations to a cheaper site in Romania might lower costs in the long run, but for now things seem decidedly in red: Nokia and the German unions who represented the 2,000 laid-off workers at the plant have agreed to a €200M ($314M) settlement, which will probably end the demonstrations and calls for boycotts that have been going on. Of course, that’s on top of the $92M (plus another $6.2M) the German government wants back in grants and tax breaks for subsidizing the plant, but what’s another hundred mil between friends?

[Via Textually.org; image courtesy of Reuters]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Not even a month after three iPods got all hot and bothered on separate occasions, along comes images showing that even Apple’s iPhone isn’t immune to melting itself. Purportedly, the handset was purchased from Carphone Warehouse in December, but was never activated for one reason or another. Just this week, the owner’s son slapped it in a dock with intentions of activating, walked downstairs to catch the last few minutes of Magnum, P.I. and returned to his room to find a “stupidly hot” iPhone which had already melted in some parts and had its screen cracked from the reaction. Not surprisingly, he’s currently in the middle of a runaround trying to get someone to remedy the issue, but thankfully no Earthlings, carpets or IKEA desks were harmed.

Update: Thanks to Logan5’s quick eyes, it appears we’ve discovered a scammer in our midst. Essentially, this bloke posted the real story here noting that the crack (more on that here) actually appeared after it was mishandled and dropped. Haven’t we learned this approach doesn’t work by now?

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Filed under: Laptops

The fallout of the March 3rd fire at LG Chem, the second biggest S. Korean manufacturer of laptop batteries, is now clear. There’s a global shortage of batteries which won’t be relieved until LG Chem can restart the assembly lines in another 2 to 3 months. Dell claims that the shortage has already caused an increase in price for secondary or replacement batteries. ASUS says it could affect up to 40% of ASUS’ laptop shipments including the Eee PC. Bad news for us, good news for Samsung SDI and Sony in Japan as laptop OEMs look elsewhere for inventory.

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Perhaps this is some sort of elaborate hoax, maybe it’s an epidemic of iPod touch coffee stains, or perhaps this player really just is this hard to photograph. Still, our second set of blurry “my iPod touch caught on fire” pictures certainly has us reaching for our Flaming Goblet of Skepticism (+3 WIS). Similar to Max’s experience a couple days ago, tipster Ryan F. says his iPod caught on fire from the inside. Ryan says he plugged it in to charge and it showed a dead battery, then the screen went white and the device started to get super hot, so he unplugged it but it continued to burn. The fire ended up leaving a blackish orangish circle in the screen, along with a brown dent in the metal on the back (pictured after the break). Ryan’s going to try and track down a better camera to take some better pictures of the damage.

Continue reading Another iPod touch catches on fire, Mr. BlurryCam is there

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We apologize for the blurriness of the image — imagine you are looking through the photographer’s tears — but what you see before you is supposedly an esploded iPod touch. Tipster Max S. tells us he had the pleasurable experience of having his touch catch on fire between the glass and the components, which can’t have been a fun time for the iPod. The heat managed to burn his desk, and needless to say Max won’t be getting any more use out of the thing. Apple has been kind enough to issue a free replacement, and is apparently going to look into the situation to see how much of an anomaly this is. This is of course “hot” on the heels of that iPod nano incident, and while an exploding iPod situation would be bad enough for Apple and consumers, what we’re really not looking forward to is the inevitable DOT ban on PMPs. Let’s hope these are some isolated incidents, or Apple pays off the right people to hush up about it. There’s another blurry shot after the break.

Continue reading iPod touch burns from within with fiery passion… and fire

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Filed under: Portable Audio

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Japan_orders_Apple_to_investigate_exploding_iPod_nanos’; Uh oh. Japan’s trade and economy ministry is now officially investigating the explosive nature of the iPod nano. The culprit is model MA099J/A — aka, the old black and white plastic model already reported to spew “chest high flames,” cause bedroom fires, and explode across the floor. The Japan incident occurred in January when an iPod nano reportedly “shot out sparks while recharging.” At this point, all odds are with the nano’s lithium ion battery. Apple Japan has been ordered to investigate the issue and report back to the ministry with the cause. Kind of like asking the fox what it was doing in the hen house, eh?

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Filed under: Cellphones

It’s a crazy, mixed-up world we live in. If we aren’t worrying about global warming or peace in the middle east, we have to be on the lookout for scorned women setting large quantities of mobile devices on fire. A certain Mrs. Wang is guilty of that latter offense. The 37-year-old Chinese woman wasn’t particularly stoked about her husband walking out on their marriage, so she did the only reasonable thing that presented itself: rounded up the entire stock of more than 400 phones the couple had at their joint-owned cellphone shop, and set the entire lot ablaze — inside her home. The collection was valued at roughly 300,000 yuan, about $42,000 US. You might want to take this time to inform your significant other how sane, rational and sexy he or she is, while simultaneously removing all lighter fluid from your home. No gadget is safe!

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