Exploding Ipods: Urban Legend, or Fact?

British dad, Ken Stanborough, 47, of Liverpool, England, dropped his 11 year-old- daughter Elle’s iPod touch. When he picked the iPod up, it felt hot. Smoke was coming from it, along with a sizzling sound. When the iPod kept getting hotter, Stanborough tossed the media player outside. Seconds later, it exploded.

Stanborough returned the badly-burned iPod to its manufacturer, Apple. The company denied any liability in the incident, but agreed to give the Stanboroughs a full refund, with one condition: they could not discuss the media player’s overheating in any way whatsoever. If they did, they would face a lawsuit. Ken Stanborough refused to sign the agreement, which he felt amounted to a gag order.
Unfortunately, the Stanboroughs’ experience was not an isolated incident. Over a dozen similar reports of iPods overheating have been recorded in Japan. There have also been exploding iPods closer to home, here in the U.S. In an incident in Ohio, a teenager allegedly received a burn on his leg when the iPod in his pants’ pocket exploded. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple and its employees on the teen’s behalf, claiming physical injury, with mental and emotional distress.

The potential danger of the popular media players has made iPod lovers wary. The culprit seems to be lithium ion batteries. Until there’s a fix of some sort, how do we keep our iPods cool?
One course of action is to follow the safety instructions for these batteries as follows:

•Keep your iPod out of direct sunlight
•Avoid using it for long periods of time in high temperatures.
•If your iPod overheats, white smoke will come from it. The smoke is an irritant, Try not to inhale it, or get the residue on your skin.
•Open the windows.
•Return the iPod to the manufacturer.

The only thing that should be hot about the iPod touch is the music you’re listening to.
For more about this issue and any potential recalls, see: www.cpsc.gov