As more and more reports begin surfacing about spontaneously exploding iPhone smart phones, Apple says it's investigating the problem and claims it has seen only "isolated incidents." The iPhone maker also told the European Commission (EC) that the device doesn't have a design flaw. Instead, "external forces" are causing the sometimes explosive damage.
Apple was forced to look into the events after the EC contacted it in the wake of an incident in France, where an iPhone started hissing and then suddenly exploded, shattering the screen and injuring the owner. Elsewhere in France, a woman's iPhone was found destroyed, with the screen shattered. No one was hurt.
Apple says none of the incidents are its fault and hinted that its very latest iPhone model—the 3GS—doesn't suffer from this problem at all. Not that there's a problem.
"In all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone," an Apple spokesperson said. "There are no confirmed battery-overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS, and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits."
Meanwhile, additional tests on three exploding iPhones are underway in the United States. The moral here is simple: If people want to be safe, they should simply use a BlackBerry or other non-exploding smart phone. Looking for explosions? There's an app for that.
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Discuss this Article 22
"Looking for explosions? There's an app for that."
Looking for a Windows shill? There's an app for....oh, no, wait, we don't need one, we already have Paul.
Let's see, Dell had issues with bad Lithium Ion batteries as did Sony and Lenovo. All of them admitted as much and FIXED the problem. Microsoft has genuine problems with the pre-Jasper Xbox 360 and as a result bumped up the warranty to three years.
Of course since Apple is infallible and as such has NEVER had a quality control problem will have to neither admit nor rectify a situation like that.
"You really think his last paragraph was to be taken seriously?"
It's not just the last paragraph. It's the tone and tenor of the whole article. For instance, what Paul also fails to report is:
"France's Secretary of State for Trade, Herve Novelli, on Friday to reassure the French government of the iPhone's safety following a burst of media reports about the product in recent weeks. ... Novelli more or less agreed that the explosions didn't appear to be caused by the batteries"
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/19104.cfm
But hey...fear sells, right Paul? Maybe if this whole tech thing doesn't work out, you can get a job with the RNC scaring people about health care reform.
Wow - you trolls will bite down on anything. You really think his last paragraph was to be taken seriously? Have you no sense of humor? Do you not realize that Paul owns and loves his iPhone? It's a joke!
"mac fansboys who seem to lurk on here, please go away this is a website/blog for Windows professionals."
Then the state of the "Windows professionals" these days is pretty sad.
Or, perhaps all of you IT "pros" are as strangely insecure as Paul and need his snarky and inaccurate posts about Apple to make you feel better? Just a few:
Apple/Google "collusion"
Did Apple Just Lie to the FCC?
Zune HD rocks
PS3 prices were just cut
And all the breathless, nearly verbatim repetition of Microsoft PR puffery.
Yes, I can see why these topics are vital to the daily life of an "IT Pro". You all make yourselves look silly by endorsing his nonsense.
mac fansboys who seem to lurk on here, please go away this is a website/blog for Windows professionals, as in 95% of the IT industry. Go talk up your pathetic vendor elsewhere please.
Yikes! My iPhone can get pretty warm during use, but I've never heard it make any odd noises.
I feel sorry for anyone who's gotten hurt from malfunctioning phones, but that last paragraph is kinda funny :)
longsword69,
They can't and they won't. Paul obviously likes baiting the 10 odd percent of people who don't use Windows. By the way, have you seen the report that Windows 7 Ultimate won't have any ultimate extras, and will disable the Vista Ultimate Extras, such as they were. The only difference between Apple and Microsoft is that the greater the share of the market, the more people you can crap on.
@longsword69:
If thats true, why does Paul feverishly 'report' on all things Apple?
Truth is, despite a single digit marketshare of computers, Apple is more innovative and more genuinely relevant to the future of IT than Microsoft, and thats why Paul hates them.
Your WinJihadist tendencies have finally forced you to jump that shark you're always writing about. This is the most ignorant piece of so-called "journalism" I've ever seen under the Thurrott brand, and that's saying a lot.
@lotsamystuff
Sometimes people just cross the line, and as someone once said "you just crossed it buddy boy".
@Christopher:
""Novelli more or less agreed that the explosions didn't appear to be caused by the batteries"
And when did a government official ever know anything beyond the addresses of loyal party donors?"
You missed the point. In lotsa's world, if he agrees with it it's reporting (see: daringfireball). If he doesn't then the author is a shill.
Be ready Paul, there are Seven Stages of Grief.....anger is the first....
Apple fix the problem? HAH!
That consists of them giving you a shiny new, yet similarly defective iPhone, wrapped up with a bow in an NDA for your troubles.
"I get to code in OpenCL today. It's nice living in the future"
PC users have been living in the "future" for nearly 2 years now, with code compiled in CUDA.
"Novelli more or less agreed that the explosions didn't appear to be caused by the batteries"
And when did a government official ever know anything beyond the addresses of loyal party donors?
Seriously though, I wouldn't necessarily come down on Apple, but it is certainly possible a Li-ion flaw exists in some units shipped to them. There are only a handful of battery manufacturers on the planet, and Apple isn't one of them. Dropping or damaging a cell during manufacturing, given the right circumstances, could lead to an unstable product. Given the sheer number of their devices shipped, some would have to have energy stability problems. Who knows, maybe the owner is all thumbs and dropped it one too many times, but thought, "That incident where I dropped it on the concrete 4-times last week wasn't relevant."
This is why manufacturers are spending a fortune on researching high-capacity cells that are more stable than the current breed of energy storage.
Apple just opens themselves up to these attacks though because of their snarky advertisements suggesting that their products are devoid of all flaws. Somehow BMW can be the #1 luxury brand, but they never hint that their stuff is perfect. I tend to think Apple wouldn't be singled out if they didn't run the passive-aggressive adverts. Also in fairness to them, I haven't seen any of the questionable ads for their portable devices. Granted they don't really have any competition in the consumer smart-phone space since most of the other manufacturers started with business and are floundering at releasing a suitable consumer product. That's the only thing Apple does, and they do it extremely well.
And seriously people. Drop the double-standard. Apple can run those adverts and the faithful think they are "hilarious and cunning." When Paul comes out and writes a mostly sarcastic piece its, "Oh no! That lying passive-aggressive SOB!" You guys willingly play right into it.
Lotsa,
You really need to chill. So a few iPod's blew up. Batteries can do that. So the French are a little paranoid, thats okay. You can laugh. I know we were taught not to laugh at the misfortune of others, but its okay.
My take: (Parody for good use.)
There are a lot of nifty apps in the App Store. Want to replace your iPhone or iPod, but its just a year old? We've got an app for that. Its called the "Upgrade App." You can download it wirelessly from the App Store. All you have to do is wait. Then once the Upgrade App is loaded, create a super secret passcode.
So when the next iPod or iPhone comes out, all you have to do is hit the Upgrade App. Put in your super secret passcode and stand the appropriate 8 to 10 feet away.
Then watch as your iPod magically disappears!
Great! You're in need of a new Apple device. Just head down to our nearest Apple Store or go online at www.apple.com/store. Your new device will be waiting for you after purchase.
Note that Apple is not responsible for any injuries sustained in using the Upgrade option. New device is not guaranteed until purchase is complete.
It takes a different person to use Apple product, and we sincerely hope you enjoy the new upgrade feature.
Apple : Upgrade Different.
Enjoy!
@Preseton
Yup MS is definately on its way out. You can tell by all the bad comments on win7 and how it only sold more copies in 8 hrs than vista did in 17 weeks on amazon.
PS "snow leopard" we get our service packs FOC.
At some point, the Microsoft fanbois will realize that Microsoft is dead, nobody cares about the Vista 7 Service Pack, and Apple is the technology leader that Microsoft merely follows. Hell, you IE users don't even have a web browser that supports the video tag. You're using antiquated technology from a company that's on its way out.
For an epic look at all the major changes in Snow Leopard, see here:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars
Meanwhile, Windows 7 still looks like a kids' toy with it goofy 7-pixel borders, white blur behind window titles, annoying window zoom effects...it's a stuffy businessman's idea of what "hip" is supposed to look like. It's hilarious that the selling point for Windows 7 is that it's a version of Vista that doesn't suck. This is what blind Microsoft fanbois put up with because they refuse to acknowledge that Apple has left them in the dust.
I get to code in OpenCL today. It's nice living in the future, and it's funny seeing you guys stuck in the past. Enjoy the Vista 7 Service Pack for $200. I get Snow Leopard for $30!
@chuckb84:
"You all make yourselves look silly by endorsing his nonsense."
I understand bias when I see it and have enough sense to filter it out. I read Paul's stuff because I find it mildly entertaining as well as informative.
You make yourself look silly by constantly coming here for the sole purpose of complaining about Paul.
this is a good chance for apple to make a pc vs mac commercial where mac uses the iphone character as a suicide bomober to kill pc....and the owner.
yup, there is an app for that. lolz @ apple.
