Man's phone burns, toasts trouser region

It's not just iPhones that have their incendiary moments - some fellow's Samsung Galaxy S II went up in smoke too. In his trouser pocket. Pictures of the handset after the event were posted on the XDA Developers forum yesterday. The handset pictured was, it's claimed, less than two weeks old. Samsung Galaxy S II post burn …

[Anonymous Coward]

The original XDA post is now in question

It's been suggested it was an engineered picture/story by a company keen to deflect the attention to their competitor.

I can't really think of any Cupertino based companies that would engage in such forms of disruptive marketing...

[tmTM]

Nope

Looks nothing like the SII I have in front of me.

My battery appears different as well.

[Ben Alderson]

Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

I'm guessing that talkie toaster was behind this. He'll toast anything.

[Anonymous Coward]

EMEI ...

Hope he's cancelled that one since his code is visible!

[Dele-Himself]

As a fellow S II owner i have to admit that at times my phones felt ridiculously hot, almost too hot to touch in that area, Ive found that apps running in the background sometimes makes the CPU ramp up to 90%+ and get stuck there, draining battery and making it turn into a toaster

Still, i came from an iPhone so either way it seems my nuts are at risk

[Elmer Phud]

there's a app for that

This would be the 'Christmas Song and Dance' app

The phone starts playing "Merry Chistmans, Everyone" and when it gets to 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire' the dancing starts.

[Helix]

When I open my Galaxy S II, the layout and orientation of the lens & flash, SIM card and microSD card is very different from that picture. Are you sure that's a GS II?

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course it's not a SII

But who cares, that little bit of information will soon be lost and all the Apple fanboys will be safe in the knowledge that it's not just their phones that catch fire...

[cloudgazer]

There are different models of SGS-2

This one is apparently the SGS-2 Skyrocket - a recent AT&T model.

[Ged T]

Major difference between Samsung and iPhone in such a scenario:

At least, with the Samsung, you can get to and (maybe) remove the power source, with the potential (no pun intended!) to eliminate futher energy input...

(Mine's the one with the smoking pocket...)

[Giles Jones]

If you can get the battery out then would you really risk using the phone again? it may be a fault in the phone that caused the problem, CPU overheating.

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly whip out the battery

While you have the rear of the case off you can extinguish the blazing inferno.

Can a Jesus phone do that?

[Ru]

Samsung slavishly copy Apple, again.

If this isn't proof of flagrant duplication, I don't know what it.

[Peter 48]

Seems obvious

This isn't a problem for any one manufacturer, but instead it seems to be an issue with the current battery designs which are found in the vast majority of phones on the market. Something causes them to short out and hey-presto you have your very own pocket warmer. This isn't even a modern occurance. I remember my friend's compact film camera suddenly going up in smoke back in 1992 because it had previously gotten wet the day before and the built-in rechargeable battery suddenly caught fire. What these batteries need is the equivalent of a temperature regulated fuse. When the sensor measures a temperature above a certain level it should cut all power to the device.

[Richard 12]

They're already got them.

These battery packs all have a fuse in them that's supposed to open in the case of a dead short.

Lithium-ion chemistry has several 'vent with flame' failure modes, so there's also charge controller chips inside to ensure the cells are never overcharged.

Sometimes, those safety devices fail.

And icon.

[ScottAS2]

No missing functionality

See? Android phones are capable of doing *everything* iPhones can do.

[theblackhand]

In the vain hope...

...of avoiding fanboi wars, would it be possible to bundle all these stories under non-brand/OS headings?

i.e. Another phone battery explodes with the phones details in the story means that the fanbois have to be able to read more than a headline/tagline - my bet is most fanbois are too busy worrying about how much of a dick their phone makes them look to be able to read more than two sentences....

[Arctic fox]

Perhaps Sammy should rename it..............

................the Nova SII.

[Lyle Dietz]

That's no S2

Based on the "Near Field Communications" written on the battery, I'm guessing its a Galaxy Nexus.

I had to do a double take because my S2 doesn't look anything like that with the battery cover off.

[tmTM]

NFC

Was promised in the S II, it never appeared in the UK but perhaps elsewhere (other phones were also supposed to run the Tegra 2 chipset)

[mikeyboosh]

Galaxy Nexus only has a 5mp camera. The plot thickens. Deffo not a European S2, could it be the sort they sell in the US?

[Anonymous Coward]

that isn't a galaxy SII.

at least not the i9100, proper version.

If it is an SII then it will be one of the fudged carrier specified ones that American carriers are so fond of.

All of it is positioned incorrectly, and as a previous poster stated, it is NOT a Nexus, as that has a 5MP camera.

I detect shenanigans.

[Giles Jones]

We all should know by now that batteries can develop faults. They're becoming so much more powerful and it's like having a small explosive bomb in your pocket.

If any insulation fails then it will go up in smoke.

[Arbuthnot Darjeeling]

Hello! Darling!!

I'm on the fire

[Miek]

That looks like some bit of fluff has worked it's way into the phone and shorted the power terminals causing excess current flow.

Also:

"at least not the i9100, proper version.

If it is an SII then it will be one of the fudged carrier specified ones that American carriers are so fond of.

All of it is positioned incorrectly, and as a previous poster stated, it is NOT a Nexus, as that has a 5MP camera."

Absolutely, I have a genuine one right here in front of me with the back cover off and can confirm that the layout of the MicroSD, SIM and *MP camera differ.

[Alex.Red]

Unknown carrier...

I am with Sprint, this is not Galaxy S II that I have.

[PeterGriffin]

SIM card says Rogers..

This is most likely a Canadian Samsung Galaxy S2.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh go on

Blame Canada

[geekclick]

It is an S2

just not the UK one its an AT+T thing called the Skyrocket or something like that!

Odd my SGS2 barely gets above room temp!

[Anonymous Coward]

Definately not an i-Phone

Nowher does it say "and then heard SIRUS tell him his penis is roasting"

[KenBrown]

The SIM is Rogers, so a Canadian Version. maybe this one

Galaxy S II LTE

http://www.rogers.com/web/link/wirelessBuyFlow?forwardTo=PhoneThenPlan&productType=normal&productId_Detailed=I727BLKR&N=52+11

[Neoc]

Not a battery problem

At least not of the li-on type. Looks more like the connection shorted out. Which means either

(1) he was fiddling with the battery and didn't replace it properly.

(2) since this is one of the new "NFC-Capable" batteries, there is a problem with the NFC connection. Did something "burn" the NFC receiver?

[Neoc]

While I'm at it...

If it is a i9100, it's one of the new ones... I just opened mine and the SIM is located horizontally beneath the camera lens, right where the J190 green PCB is located.

[Paul Hovnanian]

So, will Apple sue Samsung for copying their technology?

[despicable me]

Smoke signals?

Just remove the battery - it's no big deal.

[Usually Right or Wrong]

Remember school chemistry

I remember at school chemistry a small piece of lithium being dropped into a container of water and seeing it dance around furiously and spout flames.

Who in their right mind would want to put lithium in their trouser pocket? Not me anyway.

Mines the one with the fire extinguisher in the pocket.

[mad_dr]

Should keep you warm...

... During the Canadian winter!

[scot stockwell]

Talk about understating the risk

There was an article the other day that said phone emissions may harm your testicles. Nothing was said about chemical burns and shrapnel!!

[Jefe Mixtli]

Looks more like a SHORT

I think the pictures clearly show that the terminals of the battery had somehow been shorted. There is no evidence that the battery's internals have self-combusted and all the damage has occurred right where the battery terminals meet the phone.

If I had to guess, I'd say a stray bit of metal lodged itself between the phone and the battery.

[howard bowen]

Dunno if it's a UK type SGS2

But thats definately a hot phone!

My old SGS gets warm but it's not as hot as that one!

Is it a Chinese copy perhaps?

[Anonymous Coward]

Water damage?

It appears that something went wrong with the battery pictured, I am suspecting a failed PCB where the connector goes, possibly a component came loose inside and shorted + to -

1.2 Ah into a nearly dead short = Lots of heat PDQ.

Had it happen with a 1.2Ah NiMH once with metal debris finding its way onto the end seal on the +V end and the cell went from room temp to >100C in seconds and hot enough to melt the cell's covering.

Interestingly if the battery gets wet and corrodes but the phone still works then the corrosion could create conductive pathways and eventually cause the sort of damage seen here.

AC/DC