Amy Clancy of KIRO 7 TV in Seattle reports on her investigation of complaints of iPods overheating, smoldering and catching fire. The complaints, made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, amount to over 800 pages of documentation covering 15 incidents that Apple's lawyers repeatedly tried to prevent Clancy from accessing under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The complaints cover a broad array of iPod models over the years and include incidents that occurred while the devices were charging and not.
Analysis of the incidents suggests that the lithium-ion batteries used in the iPods are responsible for the overheating. Apple last summer acknowledged that in some cases batteries in the first-generation iPod nano could overheat, leading the company to request that concerned users contact Apple to discuss possible replacement. Apple's replacement policy gained renewed attention earlier this month when South Korean media initially suggested that Apple had issued a full recall of the first-generation iPod nano, although Apple quickly denied that there had been any change in its procedures for the affected devices.
While the Consumer Product Safety Commission has not taken action against Apple regarding the overheating iPods, the agency is requesting that Apple continue to keep it abreast of the situation. The agency also notes that Apple has addressed these specific concerns in recent model releases by having changed its battery technology, although similar reports regarding Apple's newer iPod touch models have begun to surface.
Article Link: Apple Legal Reportedly Hinders Reporter's Investigation of iPods Catching Fire
