exploding iPhones
 

Just in France? Wazzup with that?

" France's consumer affairs minister will meet a director of Apple France for talks on Friday after half a dozen cases in which iPhones are said to have spontaneously exploded or cracked up.

Herve Novelli will meet Apple France's commercial director Michel Coulomb to discuss the incidents, which are being investigated by France's competition, consumer affairs and fraud watchdog, the DGCCRF, the finance ministry said.

They will "examine what steps to take in response to the DGCCRF's questions about the implosion of these devices, and what measures the agency could take," said a statement from the ministry.

Novelli will also remind the US technology giant of its general safety obligations towards consumers.

Ten cases of "exploding iPhones" have been reported in France, including one in which a teenager suffered an eye injury, ...

cont: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c9f3a72166928f2d6d6bd3018464e09 c.6b1&show_article=1

Terrorist using them with bombs, looks to me like Apple did a good thing..

oooh. one star rating with no reply. must've hit the exposed nerve of an Apple zealot.

I countered with 5 stars and a reply. ;)

Let's make it simple.

Instead of 10 let's assume there are significantly more, say thousands, call it 2,600.

Apple have sold 26 Million iPhones.

Your an engineer, do the math on the statistical relevance.

Apple would not be the first or last manufacturer to have problems with Li Ion batteries, which BTW, they source, not build themselves.

They pop, explode and catch fire in laptops from pretty much every manufacturer.

Sony recalled 8 Million of them in 06', 8 Million, now that's a statistically relevant number.

My Q was why is FRANCE making a stink about this...

btw, of course Apple sources Li Ion batteries. They also engineer the power management for the charging and discharging of those batteries. Blaming the batteries is like blaming exploding pintos on the driver who filled it with gas.

Hey, here's an idea, put a thermal sensor in the phone. They're tiny, and I'm sure someone would write an app for that. :cool:

Sometimes they explode because they are just too full of AWESOME!

Because of the consumer protection laws in France and the way that Apple has responded to the issue. BTW, this has occurred across Europe and several countries have launched investigations into this issue. In reality, it stems from how Apple has tried to hush the issue instead of an open honest response.

I run Apple iPhones in Europe (I am not stuck with the AT&T crap), and I like them very much.

LOL! that was great!

"Apple, unlike many cell phone makers, built in a switch that automatically shuts down the iPhone if the battery reaches temperatures greater than 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Lithium-ion batteries, in generally, do not spontaneously combust."

Scary stuff, here is a local death from a laptop fire:

http://sync.sympatico.msn.ca/News/ContentPosting_CBC?newsitemid=bc-overheating-laptop-fire-death-vancouver&feedname=CBC-TECH-SCIENCE-V3&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&d etect=&abc=abc&date=True

113°F is nothing. ...just around 16° above body temp. Wow. don't leave it in a parked car. ...or by the pool.

That must be an usage (ambient) temp, and not an internal battery temp. If the battery was never allowed to go above 113°F I can't imagine they would ever go critical.

Just another thought. Failure mode. a battery that grenades a phone is not a good failure mode.

Bloodly French. Always looking for some new way to tear American companies down. My iphone is sitting right here, and I have certainly never had any issues.....with....

Huh...where is that smoke coming fr.....oh GOD......AAAAAHAHAHHAHAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.mojahedin.org/Images/2009...-057951861.jpg

"In one incident, wrote Macworld, a French teenager claimed to have hurt his eye after his girlfriend's iPhone made a hissing sound and then its glass touch-screen shattered.

A 47-year-old UK man said his daughter's iPhone also hissed and then exploded. And in the Netherlands, an iPhone left in a car reportedly caused a fire that burned the vehicle's seat."

Source eweek

Too bad for the French haters amongst us.

More . . .

"Apple iPhone 3GS smartphones have reportedly been exploding around Europe, in what Apple is calling isolated incidents. According to some news outlets, in at least one case Apple has offered to reimburse an owner, with the agreement that the terms and existence of the settlement were to remain confidential."

Ian

"A short circuit inside a lithium ion battery can lead to what's known in the industry as a "runaway thermal reaction." The reaction can cause the battery case to melt and spew hot liquids, or explode due to pressure and heat."