RIM investigating case of exploding BlackBerry
Research in
Motion is investigating a strange case involving a boy’s reportedly exploding BlackBerry
in the U.K.
According to the Guardian, 11-year-old Kian McCreath’s BlackBerry exploded and caught fire on his bed at his family home in Coventry.
The child’s parents are now asking RIM to recall the phone in question – a Curve 9320 – just before the busy holiday season.
RIM, however, says it still hasn’t been able to examine the charred phone and determine what happened. In a statement to the Guardian, the company says it’s still waiting for the family to provide the melted device for it to investigate.
Kian’s parents claim that melted plastic from the handset stuck to his legs, and the boy had to be taken to a local hospital. They extinguished the flames themselves.
According to the Coventry Telegraph, the phone had been plugged in and was charging at the time of the fire.
It’s not the first time we hear of cellphones getting too hot to handle.
There have been previous cases where even Apple iPhones reportedly caught fire – once during a flight in Australia, and another time in Brazil.
Have you experienced a phone that got too hot for comfort?
- Maurice Cacho, MSN Tech & Gadgets
Photo: Kian McCreath/Facebook
Comments
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Posted by: Tony2012 | Dec 6, 2012 9:00:15 AM
This is a very curious case that indeed requires some investigation. I've used several BlackBerry devices for years. None ever got heated when charging or in use.
However, I did have an original Samsung basic flip phone that got extremely hot. Never exploded or caught on fire.
Why would the young lad have a phone on his leg anyway?
Posted by: Price Electric | Dec 6, 2012 8:54:02 PM
There needs to be an electrician in the boys room to look at the outlet to determine if it was due to a surge in electrical
Posted by: Jean Allaire | Dec 6, 2012 8:59:16 PM
That is comon sense, if the phone is charging put it on a solid surface so it dispers heat from charging, if the phone is in blankets it will isolate the heat from dispersing and the temperature can increase to combustion and start burning
Posted by: Clyde | Dec 8, 2012 12:15:11 PM
Device + Charger + Textile = A Couple Fries Shy Of A HaPPy Meal.
Maybe people should have to pass a written exam, to qualify for possession of electronics???
Posted by: Peter | Dec 9, 2012 9:25:12 AM
What is an 11 year old doing with a cell phone? If a child isn't old enough to be left alone unattended without adult supervision.....then why do they need a cell phone. Chances are the parent or legal guardian will have one. Just my opinion. I hate phones anyway...wether its a landline or a cell phone!!
Posted by: Doug | Dec 11, 2012 1:17:23 AM
So the article ends citing a case where "even Apple iPhones reportedly caught fire".
You have some statistical data indicating that Apple phones are less susceptible to this than other phones? Probably not. So you could have just as easily written:
"Boy claims that even a RIM Blackberry may catch fire".
But that would be much too fair to RIM. After all, would good journalism be without bias?
Yeah I'm a Blackberry owner. And fed up with all the slanted, unmerited press the company gets from journalists that follow the crowd, instead of earning their pay and actually thinking about what they write. Nice though, that you didn't slag them completely, only partly.