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back to article PANTS on FIRE? Too late for you. But others will benefit from singed trouser phone alert

Boffins at Stanford University have invented a system which could banish the dreaded trouser fire to the annals of tech history. Regular readers of The Reg will know that the batteries used in mobile phones have a horrible tendency to blow up at inopportune moments. Whether it's an iPad Nano going kaboom in Japan, a Swiss …

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  1. D@v3

    which is great

    unless your device has a non removable battery, like both of the devices mentioned in the opening of the article....

    3 0 Reply
    1. John Bailey
      Reply Icon

      Re: which is great

      No.. It's ok.

      Apple hardware problems are always limited to a few isolated cases, and are always the result of tampering. And courts that demand recalls are obviously infiltrated by haters.

      According to what I read here......

      4 3 Reply
      1. wowfood
        Reply Icon

        Re: which is great

        Tampering, or third party chargers, those are also to blame.

        1 0 Reply
    2. Trigonoceps occipitalis
      Reply Icon

      Re: which is great

      No problem, wait until there is one second to go then cut the red wire.

      2 0 Reply
    3. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: which is great

      Nice try, but there were three devices mentioned. Well, there was a third link to an unnamed device, which Jesper decided not to name as it was a Samsung GS3, which would blow his narrative that only Apple devices suffer from any problems or defects.

      Once your GS3 is already on fire in your pocket, are you really going to get any benefit by removing the battery at that point? Even if it hadn't caught fire at that point but just got "wow, that's hot" I think I'd get it away from me rather than fiddle with it and burn (at best) my hands and have something catch fire (at worst) while I was fiddling with it!

      AFAIK, these events occur as runaway reactions as a result of damage or manufacturing defect, not something that slowly builds over hours, so battery removal won't help unless you mean "I always remove the battery when I'm not using it".

      0 2 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Smart battery ?

    If it were really smart it would stop charging / discharging BEFORE it cought fire !

    7 0 Reply
  3. macjules
    FAIL

    Learn from Tony Stark ...

    Why not apply a similar principle to that taken up by Tesla Motors i.e. a 'smart' battery that gives you a notice of failure and then shuts the phone down? Surely someone could fit some form of thermo detector onto the iPhone 6 battery ... hopefully without bending the thing in the process.

    1 0 Reply
  4. Captain DaFt

    From Star Trek

    Here's a video simulating the battery in action:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbN02JG-QGE

    2 0 Reply
  5. squigbobble

    'gives a warning before it goes bang'

    I assumed that this warning would take the form of a plume of smoke emitted from the battery (maybe a hissing noise as well) but the reality is less fun.

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'gives a warning before it goes bang'

      I was thinking along the lines of a integrated sound chip and a prerecorded message, e.g. "In The Interests Of Safety, Please De-Battrify Your iPhone" :-)

      0 0 Reply
  6. Bilby

    If your pants catch fire...

    ...perhaps you should reconsider a career in politics.

    0 0 Reply

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