Japan Warns Over iPod nano Fires

It's been a bad few weeks for Apple. MobileMe issues, iPhone 3G connectivity problems, and on Tuesday Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) reported that two new reports of minor fires due to suspected iPod nano battery overheating occurred in Tokyo this month.

Of course, it's not like Apple wasn't warned; Japan reported suspected nano battery overheating in March. According to the ministry, Apple has been notified of a total of 14 similar cases in Japan.

These were all older nanos, much like the one in the U.S. we reported on last year, which similarly caught fire. We haven't heard anything further on that report, however.

An official at METI said the incidents occurred among four models -- MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A. A total of 1.81 million such units were sold between September 2005 and September 2006 in Japan.

In a statement, the ministry warned users to be careful during recharging, saying:

"Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines. Our ministry told Apple to improve its technological development and probe the cause of the incidents so that similar incidents do not happen again."

Earlier this year there was a similar report of a PSP fire. And naturally we've seen many reports of Li-ion batteries in laptops overheating. Of course, those batteries are more "stressed," as manufacturers obvious want maximal life from laptop power.

Apple is, of course, quiet with regards to this issue, as is typical.