iPod Nano trouser fireballs sweep Japan

The long dry* summer wears on, rendering habitats parched and flammable as tinder. Pockets containing iPods are one such habitat and the annual outbreak of gadgetry-related conflagrations is under way. A particularly severe pocket wildfire epidemic is raging at this moment in Japan, where Reuters reports that roaring infernos …

[Eddie Edwards]

Fingered ahead of the probe?

"It seems that certain iPod Nanos sold in Japan from September 2005 to September 2006 have been fingered ahead of the probe."

I've been known to finger ahead of the probe myself but the iPod Nano's port is way to small for either, missus.

[Lloyd]

Can I be first to say

Great balls of Fire?

[Pete]

or ...

a small number of electrical appliances in a far-away country get hot - nobody harmed.

[Tom Paine]

Here's Paula with the weather

Scorchio!

Mine's the one with the catchphrase cheatsheet in the pocket

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple Answer..

dont put your ipod in a cloth bag and jangle it around with metal keys paperclips etc.... shorting the docking port will end in tears.

[Fluffykins]

Baked apples

Yummy

[Dave]

@Pete

"a small number of electrical appliances"

shurely that should read "a trivial number"

[Torben Mogensen]

Overheat while recharging?

Batteries are notorious for getting hot when you charge them for too long, so considering that no one got burnt it is likely that the offending iPods overheated during or recharging. Given all the various chargers and docking stations you can get for iPods, it is probable that some of these will use too high voltage when recharging and, consequently, overcharge the batteries.

[Matthew]

Damn you Lewis Page

The MoD should be buying tested iPod Nano of Death equipment instead of building the UK's own incendariary commercial electronics industry!

<whistles nonchanalantly while strolling in opposite direction>

[Vincent]

Apples

They're not cooking apples foo'!

Yeah, that was bad.

Mine's the one with the flaming pockets.

[Deb Swinney]

UK Nanos Warning

"* Your dryness may vary. For UK readers, this would be dry in the sense that dry white wine is dry."

What, full of alcohol? That'd explain the sudden flammability, I guess.

[Elmer Phud]

@ Lloyd

If it's in a back pocket then the Johnny Cash gambit is brought in to play.

"It burns,burns, burns" etc

[Anonymous Coward]

2005 to September 2006?

The chip that is supposed to break the ipod after the warranty expires must have been faulty.

[Stuart Moore]

Dry white wine

The Dry White Wine aside is a classic. Nice one.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Jim

Because your a troll Jim.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Aw. come on!

Jim The Boss,

Seems the boys and girls here at El Reg just don't appreciate your brand of humor. Keep trying, you'll eventually win them over... Bwahahahaha

[Trygve Henriksen]

@Torben

I believe that at least one was connected to the PC for recharge/synch when this happened, and most people do use the PC for recharging.

Because it uses the 5V from the USB connector, it has built-in charge circuitry, and will regulate the recharge itself.

(No one in their right mind would build a Li-ion based device to draw power from the USB-port without including protection circuitry.)

My guess is like always in these cases; that the affected units all have Sony's Zippo line of Li-ion batteries...

[Anonymous Coward]

So there's no truth

That the iPod Nano them isn't Play with Fire by the Stones?

[rick buck]

Should have read as:

Hot Pants are BACK!

'cause I love 'em!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dry, as in dry white wine?

Or was that dry as in "I need a drink - right now". That would be my guess if your pants had just been on fire.

One has to ask the questions, why would anyone want to keep something small and filled with electricity next to their gonads?

[alyn]

Epidemic?

Can you call three occurrances an epidemic?

Mines the jacket with the asbestos lining