Japan investigates report of battery sparks in one discontinued first generation iPod nano unit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 10:04 AM EST"Japan is investigating a possible defect in Apple Inc.'s iPod after one of the popular digital music players reportedly shot out sparks while recharging, a government official said Wednesday," The Associated Press reports.
"An official at the trade and economy ministry, which oversees product problems, said a defect is suspected in the lithium-ion battery in the iPod Nano, model number MA099J/A. He spoke on customary condition of anonymity, saying he is reiterating a ministry position," AP reports.
"The problem surfaced in January in Kanagawa Prefecture southwest of Tokyo, and Apple reported the problem to the ministry in March. No one was injured, the official said. Other details weren't available," AP reports.
"The iPod was assembled in China, but it was unclear who made the lithium-ion battery, the ministry official said," AP reports.
"The ministry said Apple has shipped about 425,000 iPods of the same suspected model were shipped into Japan. It was unknown how many have been sold and how many might still be in stores," AP reports. "Shipments of the model began in September 2005 and were discontinued after September 2006, the ministry said."
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What we know so far is that a single, discontinued, first generation (1G) iPod nano unit out of millions that were shipped worldwide is reported to have a battery sparking issue which is being investigated in Japan.
Stay tuned for overblown and overwrought overreactions that are likely to ensue as the result of poor reporting which will fail to put the issue into proper context regarding the ratio (one unit out of several million) and/or the model (two generations ago, discontinued) which is claimed to have been affected.
UPDATE: 10:22am EDT: As predicted, see the dumbasses at ZDNet Australia who are illustrating their story with a new 3G iPod nano without mentioning the actual model affected: iPod overheats, sparks while being charged. Contact:
UPDATE: 10:39am EDT: Idiots on parade. See Vnunet (Japan investigates iPod Nano fire) who are illustrating their article (which gets the fact correct in the text, "These products were sold in Japan between September 2005 and September 2006," but still stupidly illustrates with an image of the new 3G iPod nano. Contact: http://www.vnunet.com/feedback/
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "ChicagoMusicGuy" for the heads up.]
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I think some Japanese company must have a competing product on the horizon or else this belonged to "someone important" or their child.