back to article KRAKOOM! iPad Air explose in fireball, terrified fanbois flee Apple store

Apple fanbois around the world are on red alert after one of the latest fruity fondleslabs caught fire and exploded in an Australian Vodafone shop. A demonstration model of the new iPad Air caused a fire so intense that the fire brigade were called. Although no-one was hurt in the fire, fanbois around the world will be …

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  1. Tom 7

    I thought fanbois were waving them around to annoy others

    apparently is the only way to make sure they're cool!

  2. TheOtherHobbes

    I though it was Amazon that made the Fire tablets?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      No, no, that's a fire sale. Pay attention.

      :)

  3. Longrod_von_Hugendong
    Facepalm

    If its in the Daily Fail...

    It must be 100% true. The phones could be taken from anywhere, not saying it didn't happen but i would prefer a more reliable source than the Daily Fail.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: If its in the Daily Fail...

      How apt. Jasper Hamill is the Daily Mail of El Reg reporters, after all...

    2. fandom

      Re: If its in the Daily Fail...

      Really, Is it that hard?

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. scruncher

        Re: If its in the Daily Fail...

        Still looks fishy to me. The story happened a week ago, there seems to be just the single anonymous source, all the articles use almost the same words and it's apparently the wrong device in the photo. And it's the Daily Fail. I'm going with 'not true' for now!

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: If its in the Daily Fail...

        > Really, Is it that hard?

        He is Guardian reader so everything has to handed to him on a plate. He is incapable of looking for himself.

  4. Just_this_guy
    Happy

    Air today, gone tomorrow...

    At least it was a really THIN fire, eh?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Air today, gone tomorrow...

      It was a shiny fire. And extraordinarily high-res.

      However, several of the firemen commented that you could get twice the flames for half the price with an Android tablet.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Air today, gone tomorrow...

        and the flames were rounded off

        1. Jim 59

          Sorry about the flame

          Similar flames were available on Android but they looked slightly different for legal reasons

    2. MrDamage Silver badge

      Re: Air today, gone tomorrow...

      It wasn't a fire, it was a screensaver

  5. DuncanL

    "therefore a bit rubbish when you remember how exciting the first one was all those years ago"

    I have no fruity devices and no interest in an "fanboi" groupings, but that does seem a bit of a daft dismissal of a device that will sell millions. Surely that's true for just about anything ever - the first version is the game changer; everything that follows are merely refinements

    The latest Ford Escort is just a bit better version of a Ford Model T, but plenty of people are still interested in them and certainly doesn't make them "a bit rubbish".

    1. Jemma

      Ford Orion

      The latest Ford Escort/Orion was worse than a model T in oh so many ways. There was the steer by leaning function - the chassis flexed so bad it was like wing-warping without the wings. The seats had all the appeal of a damp kindergarten waiting room chair. And oh god the engines - CVH aka Clattery Vapid & Harsh or CVS aka Catatonic & Violently Smokey. The gearlever would have been more at home as the twist grip on an elephants colestomy bag. Then there's the body roll - akin to a greased up Hutt dropped off a skate ramp & the body panels that were a total loss if it rained hard. The only part of the bodywork that had any structural integrity whatsoever was the rear spoiler.

      The Focus is better but many seem to have sourced their electronics from either Lucas prince of darkness or Renaults spare parts division - a bunch of people that make the coalition government look like Gods on earth.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Ford Orion

        "The latest Ford Escort/Orion was worse than a model T in oh so many ways."

        I recently had the opportunity to drive a model T. You are wrong in oh so many ways.

        1. Getriebe

          Re: Ford Orion

          "I recently had the opportunity to drive a model T."

          So true. One needs to relearn driving to get one even crawling

          But all Model Ts should be like this IMHO

          http://www.2040cars.com/_content/cars/images/41/563441/003.jpg

        2. Jemma

          Re: Ford Orion

          I've driven both and I'd still buy a model To over a series 5 Orion any day of the week. once you learn the controls the T isn't that hard - just be careful if it acts up on starting -handle kickback on that engine *hurts*. The number of people broke fingers or even arms using handle starts was why the big old engines used a flywheel clutch starter - you turned the flywheel and then clutched it - start a Tiger II on a direct handle and get it wrong and your entire arm would end up somewhere in darkest Wales.

      2. Richard 31

        Re: Ford Orion

        I am inclined to agree

        The only part of my Orion that ever worked was the Fuel Computer. Every other piece of electronics in that mobile pile of rust didn't work properly. Fuel leaks. Windows wouldn't wind. Interior and exterior lighting seemed to be some sort of optional extra. Never noticed the body roll at the time. But that could have been because my shocks were made from solid lumps of steel.

        1. firefly

          Re: Ford Orion

          I had a Mk1 ('84) Orion Ghia and it was a nice car, like an armchair on wheels, the CVH engine was ok for the time and it had decent styling. Then the Mk2 came out, the soft plastics gave way to cheap hard plastics, the styling was blander, it actually had less equipment than the Mk1 and the CVH engines were being showed up by Vx's OHC engine and others. Then we had the complete and utter train wreck of the 1990 model Escort/Orions. It seems only Ford could turn out progressively worse cars with each new generation.

          I actually have a Focus now and it's a decent car but I'm surprised Ford are still in business today considering some of the crap they turned out from the mid 80's up to the late 90's.

      3. Hans 1
        Boffin

        Re: Ford Orion^H^H^H^H^H:= Cheap Crap

        Ford has always made cheap, crap cars ... the only reason model T was so successful was because it was way cheaper than anything else on the market at the time.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Ford Orion^H^H^H^H^H:= Cheap Crap

          Don't entirely agree - I've owned a few Mondeos - and although they obviously lack the cache of German brands and arguably are not as long lived/reliable as some Japanese/Korean manufacturers - they've always been fine to drive and I've never had a serious problem. I have just bought a Fiesta ST - and that's great to drive. Tue, I'll have to see how well it lasts over the years - but for the money you pay - I think you get a good deal. Or maybe I'm just being defensive... If you've got plenty of money - or really care that much there are plenty of options available. If you've not - I believer that Ford is among the manufactures that deliver value for money.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "therefore a bit rubbish when you remember how exciting the first one was all those years ago"

      Splendid up to the minute deconstruction of the motor industry there. It's called a Focus these days Grandad.

      Still, no fruitiness here either, nor did I ever have any liking for Madonna, so that analogy is perfect!

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Remember the Ford Prefect

        What a wonderful car.

        The starter motor (As was common with many Ford cars) used to jam. A hammer kept under the drivers seat would 'unjam' it 99 times out of a 100.

        Oh, and a Radio was an optional extra. :)

    3. davemcwish

      Re: "therefore a bit rubbish when you remember how exciting the first one was all those years ago"

      @Duncant You do know that 'The latest Ford Escort' is now a decade or so old don't you ? Other than pristine ones for vintage collectors and the Cossie variant, provided it's not been ragged, they are a bit rubbish compated to their modern equivalents, made by FMC or not.

  6. Frankee Llonnygog

    Mr Hamill complaining about blasts of hot air?

    Usual lazy mash-up of outsourced stories and re-badged catchphrases. Must be soul-destroying writing this guff day in, day out.

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Must be soul-destroying writing this guff day in, day out.

      The article or your comment?

      1. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: Must be soul-destroying writing this guff day in, day out.

        Touché - well played!

  7. Khaptain Silver badge
    Devil

    Some missing elements

    They failed to mention that a bearded youth wearing a tshirt, with a evil faced green robot printed on the back, had been seen running from the shop just minutes earlier; holding some lighter fuel and a box of matches.....

    1. Just_this_guy

      Re: Some missing elements

      Linus TORCHvalds? Or Tim BURNERS-Lee?

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Some missing elements

        or maybe Richard Stallman was taking out his revenge

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Some missing elements

        @Just_this_guy - "Linus TORCHvalds? Or Tim BURNERS-Lee?"

        I think he was referring to Jasper Hamill's beard. He's the author of this article.

    2. tony2heads
      Terminator

      Re: Some missing elements

      No, I think it was a teenage boy, his mum and a Terminator

  8. i like crisps
    Facepalm

    DIAGNOSTIC CORNER...

    Do you think it could have been fumes,from all the glue

    they use to stick the thing together that ignited and

    destroyed the unit?...i remember back in my day when

    these contraptions were fixed together with screws....

    mind you i am going back quite a bit now.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But only a small percentage.....

    ................of Australia went up in flames

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Focus!

    "iPad Explodes", blah, blah, ...

    "Did I mention I think it's c**!? I now I did in a previous article, but just let me bring it up again because I can't make this article appear anti-Apple enough otherwise".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Focus!

      Oh no! Someone doesn't like iPads! Quick, get the appletards to post anonymously!!

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: Focus!

        El Reg should implement commentariat's "team" flags.

        "I'm on Team Apple/Android/Ubuntu" etc.

  11. Hellcat
    Joke

    I thought that was a lightning port, not firewire.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      I think you owe everyone a beer for that one...

  12. Feldagast

    Get them while they're hot!

  13. Richard 20
    WTF?

    Good one…

    "Weighs a bit less". Really? if the author of this piece lost proportionally the same [bit of] weight I suspect the last rites would be called for…

    1. jai

      Re: Good one…

      Jasper's not one to let facts get in the way of a good piece of anti-Appletism

  14. Graham Marsden
    Flame

    So it wasn't...

    ... a Kindle Fire...?

  15. Richard Scratcher
    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Happy

      iED

      Neat.

      Fahrenheit 451. The temperature at which paper burns.

      I wonder what Lithium is capable of?

  16. MikeyD85

    Obviously

    The shop keep was demonstrating it wrong.

  17. RTNavy

    Acme Products?

    Was the charger and battery made by ACME?

    Air Bender---Check

    Fire Bender--Check

    Water Bender--?

    Earth Bender--?

    New iPad is on it's way to becoming an Avatar to save us from our evils!

    1. hplasm
      Terminator

      Re: Acme Products?

      "ACME products? I'm 80% ACME products!"

      iBender.

  18. DJV Silver badge
    Happy

    Maybe...

    Maybe they should name the next one the iPad Water - it will be able to put its own fires out then.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge

      Re: Maybe...

      Great idea, apart from the moisture sensors.

      Actually, there's a cunning sales idea in there. Just have it spot the launch of its successor and drench itself. Presto; one written off device that's invalidated its own warranty, obliging the punter to buy a new one.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Maybe...

        I thought that feature was called "Windows Update"?

  19. messele

    "Your correspondent visited the London iPad Air launch and was unimpressed: Yes, it's an iPad, which weighs a bit less than the old one and is quicker."

    This respondent doesn't give a fuck for the opinion of this so called correspondent but is amused that he wasted his time going to the launch of something he clearly was going to hate - just so he could hate it.

    By the way, the tablet in the Daily Fail photo isn't an iPad Air. This is the second time this afternoon I've picked up on a 'The Recycler' supposed journo who's simply cut and pasted from some other incompetent fucking idiot journo elsewhere.

    What are the qualifications to do this job exactly?

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Happy

      This respondent thought the article was slightly amusing, but knew the comments thread would be much funnier.

      Thanks messele, you're a star!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      The Recycler! Ha ha! Love it!

  20. sabroni Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    You might not like Jasper Hamill

    but he certainly knows how to get the indignant fanboys posting!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You might not like Jasper Hamill

      No! No! No!

      Anyone who likes to see even slightly-not-quite-so-bad reporting.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Anyone who likes to see even slightly-not-quite-so-bad reporting.

        Anyone who likes to see a properly constructed sentence more like!

        Are the appletards paying their children to post? Or are you just sticking pins in a dictionary?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Anyone who likes to see a properly constructed sentence more like!

          A marvellous example of a wrongly constructed sentence calling for properly constructed sentences. Still, it's good to see the grammatically challenged displaying ambitions to improve themselves and others, no matter how futile and ill-advised. May I deduce, from your own lack of mental clarity, inadvertently demonstrated while aiming to point out that lack in others, that you are an Android user?

          1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
            Gimp

            Re: Anyone who likes to see a properly constructed sentence more like!

            > ... that you are an Android user?

            The Apple is strong in this one!

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: The Apple is strong in this one!

              The Apple is strong, and the grammar is easy. Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fondleslab?

    More fondue than fondle here...

  22. Mtech25
    Trollface

    Ipad Air explodes

    Fanbois blame reporter for daring to besmirch Apples good name

  23. Elmer Phud

    An excuse at last

    For those who really detest the things you can now cross the road to piss on them.

    "Sorry mate, it's for your own good"

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple store?

    Have Apple bought Vodafone Australia then?

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not only is it lighter, faster and with improved resolution, but they still found room to squeeze in an increased risk that it could burn you to death by setting your house on fire in the middle of the night, and your still not happy... there's just no satisfying some people.

  26. gregj

    another useless report

    some reporters expect sex to get better every year too.. Idiots...

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: another useless report

      > expect sex to get better every year

      It doesn't?

      1. Steve Knox
        Coat

        Re: another useless report

        If it doesn't, then you're not holding it right.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: another useless report

      It does, I know because unlike you I have had sex with another person

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: unlike you I have had sex with another person

        Close relatives don't count

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: unlike you I have had sex with another person

          Close relatives don't count

          Rednecks eh?

        2. hplasm
          Coat

          Re: unlike you I have had sex with another person

          Close relatives don't count - unless up to twenty, on their toes...

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But we all knew...

    that buy Apple products burns a hole in your pocket didn't we - the only news is that it is now literaly true (assuming large ipad sized pockets of course).

  28. silent_count

    This fondleslab will self-destruct in...

    Surely there's a mission impossible joke to be had here.

  29. Phenomonal Phablet Phanboy

    Phenonomal Phablet Phanboy

    I guess this joker will whine when iPad sales tops 80 milllion over the next 12 months??

    What a maroon

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Phenonomal Phablet Phanboy

      Is that what Samsung are doing wrong? Not including a self destruct mechanism in their tablets.

  30. Vince

    20% thinner, 100% more combustable.

    Available in chargrilled black

    That's "magical and revolutionary" is it?

  31. Nigel 11

    Halt and catch fire malware?

    It's probably just a faulty battery.

    But these days with fancy battery control chips capable of being controlled by the slab's CPU, I fear it's only a matter of time before someone works out how to implement HCF (halt and catch fire).

  32. Don Jefe

    Next Generation of Engineers from the 'Creative' Types? Hardly

    Ok, fine, you've got to call the fire department in a retail shopping area, that's fair. But people ran away from an 'exploding' iPad? Lame.

    How are people supposed to learn what happens when things go wrong if they're running away from it? Failure to observe not only the events, but how they were managed, indicates these people are incapable of rational thought, risk assessment and any sense of wonder. The big push in the West for more engineers may have come too late if this is what we can expect from the educated, middle and upper classes (Apple's core market).

    Maybe next year at intern selection time I'll have something catch fire and see how they respond.

  33. Frumious Bandersnatch

    saw a "burst of flames" shoot out of the iPad's charging port

    Thunderbolt and lightning---very, very frightening!

  34. LaeMing

    It's Australia!

    Here, even the iPads are trying to kill you.

  35. SoaG

    "Apple's hottest (sorry)"

    No you're not.

  36. Dropper

    Oh cool another Apple product that self-destructs, it must be that time of year again.. I'm assuming having all your products self-ignite is some sort of marketing scheme to encourage the purchase of extended warranties..

    So far that makes the macbook, iphones 4 and 5, ipods, and now ipads. I don't care if it was an ipad 4 or ipad air, it's still another exploding idevice. I also don't care if the fault lies with the battery.. Apple has had about a decade to figure out how to buy batteries that don't blow up and so far they seem to have unusual difficulty finding some that are stable at room temperature.

    1. Don Jefe

      You do realize that Apple has sold a few hundred million iPads right? They experience very few fires, especially considering the quantities that are out there. You stand a better chance of being strafed by machine gun fire from a Zeppelin on a bombing run than you do of experiencing an iFire.

      Even the best manufacturing facilities have some problem products that slip through QA. You simply can't expect perfection from a mass production line. The media makes a big deal out of Apple failures because Apple kind of sets themselves up as 'superior' and it's always fun to kick those kinds of companies in the shins.

      1. croc

        "You do realize that Apple has sold a few hundred million iPads right? They experience very few fires, especially considering the quantities that are out there. You stand a better chance of being strafed by machine gun fire from a Zeppelin on a bombing run than you do of experiencing an iFire."

        Actually, as things now stand I have an infinitely greater chance of experiencing an iPad burning. Several Vodafone Australia customers will back me up on my version, how many people can you dig up that have even seen a Zeppelin? On a strafing run? While dropping bombs?

        1. Frankee Llonnygog

          how many people can you dig up that have even seen a Zeppelin?

          Quite a few, but they won't be in a fit state to comment on it.

        2. Dropper

          They experience very few fires

          Your comment "they experience very few fires" isn't exactly reassuring. They sell devices to people who live in homes, have families and often give these over-priced iCandies to spoiled children. I may dislike spoiled children but even I will admit setting them on fire is going too far.

          Here's the thing, if you're going to sell something to millions of people, saying "They're pretty safe, you have a fair chance of this unit not burning your home to ground while you family sleeps in it.." is not exactly a resounding endorsement. We aren't talking about the occasional fire hazard here, they have enough fire-starting devices to get very, very noticed every time they sell something new. If Apple has sold it in the last decade, you can almost guarantee a larger than normal number of whatever it is has tried to kill its owner.

          Being unlucky should mean that one or two devices over a multiple generations of a device explode. Getting bad batteries in the hundreds with the release of each new device you sell means QA is a concept that Apple only has a passing familiarity with. What's next? Giving the Apple QA stamp of approval on cell phones that drop their calls because of the way you hold them?.. wait..

  37. TKMatt
    WTF?

    Look at the photo

    The Daily Mail is the only website with a photo of the device in question, and it doesn't look like an iPad Air. The chassis and bezel look like they come from an older model iPad. The exposed internals don't match up with the teardown photos of the Air on iFixit, and they don't look much like the iPad 4 either.

    Shoddy journalism from the DM, and even shoddier journalism from all the other sites that picked up on the story.

  38. raving angry loony

    It's a hoax

    Has to be. Store full of fanbois and other cell-phone carrying junkies and not ONE live video of the event? People take video of the buildings burning around them, there's no excuse for there not being a live video of this. Except if it's a hoax. Q.E.D.

    That or El Reg is slipping and didn't link to said live video?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      YOU WORST SUSPICION IS JUST A CONFIRMATION AWAY!

      Maybe all the attendants are under NDA? Or they were a hired crowd....

      But yeah, this event needs to be Zaprudered.

  39. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    "The only part of my Orion that ever worked was the Fuel Computer. Every other piece of electronics in that mobile pile of rust didn't work properly. Fuel leaks."

    Wait, did it actually account properly for the fuel leaks? 8-) Just kidding haha

    Anyway, seeing the fixit page on this, well... the ipad air and air notebook both looked like the battery was kind of a bag of, I guess, lithium ions that is squished into the unit and glued in place. I would expect a higher rate of damage (either during assembly or after) compared to a more conventional rigid battery case.

    "Ok, fine, you've got to call the fire department in a retail shopping area, that's fair. But people ran away from an 'exploding' iPad? Lame."

    Burning electronics put out nasty fumes. Plus if the store employees are busy dealing with this burning ipad, they can't attend to the customer or sell them stuff anyway. I mean, I wouldn't go to an Apple store to begin wtih but I'd leave pretty quickly if this happened.

  40. ramblog
    Mushroom

    crypto lockers rejoice!

    'If you don't pay, we can make your iPad go away!.... Pft..... Into thin Air!'

    An offer one can't refuse.

    Taking money from an iFan is child's play. Apple does it all the time.

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Who supplies Apple with the batteries? it's not Sony again is it?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      No, it's an unnamed factory in Pakistan's FATA.

      MUAHAHAHA!

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Possible

    It might be the glue fumes igniting, thats as good a theory as I've heard.

    I noticed that a lot of new devices exhibit quite strong odours when taken out of the box so if fumes built up with a single exit point (ie the charge port) and a static spark was generated then yes a KABOOM could result.

    The same mechanism is also responsible for the flaming battery effect seen on some older model phones; its not so much the Li-Ion chemistry itself that is to blame but the hot electrolyte vaporising and escaping from the safety vent.

  43. Tyson Key

    Did anyone learn from science classes?

    Remember kids - Lithium combusts in (an iPad) Air!

  44. i like crisps
    Trollface

    " SHIT BINS"....a message to Apple UK.

    "Shit Bins" yeah?....y'know...those big wire baskets in the middle of

    Supermarket aisles that they use to flog all the shit that they've

    overstocked on...well if you're concerned that that this' incident'

    could impact on sales of the unit and you don't want to end up

    with loads of stock that you can't off load, then all you need to do

    is get a load of "Shit Bins "in your shops yeah, and stick them all

    in there...SORTED. The British public don't care about spontaneous

    combustion just as long as it's been heavily discounted.

    1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

      Re: " SHIT BINS"....a message to Apple UK.

      Last I heard Apple didn't exactly have a problem offloading stock...

      1. i like crisps
        Trollface

        Re: " SHIT BINS"....a message to Apple UK.

        Why's that your Lordship, did they take my advice?

        You didn't buy one did you your grace? A word to the

        wise...Hold the fukka at arms length at all times as i

        understand that your robes are not flame retardant

        (See: Fire REG's 1988)

  45. Julian Taylor

    Oh come on Jasper!

    What on earth is it between you and anything Apple? Almost every day this week you have lambasted something/someone connected with Apple in any way. Personally I thought your rather snide article on Tim Cook' support for ENDA (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/04/tim_cook_launches_workplace_equality_drive/) was about as low as you were going to plummet with the "Even though he's not discussed his sexuality publicly, Tim Cook was placed in the top spot of a Power List of gay Americans ..." paragraph. Does it matter if he is gay or not? Also I don't see you mentioning Gates or Ballmer's support for ENDA (http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=12285).

    Give it a rest, will you?

  46. All names Taken
    Happy

    Did the bystanders mince or go something like "Wow! Profound dood!"?

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    didnt the song go...

    Burn Baby burn ipad inferno?

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    wrong and wrong

    iPad flAir? Or they just pluged it wrong?

  49. JT163

    You'd think with all those sensors and apps there might be one to turn off the juice before the fire breaks out.

    The next one will tbe iPad elements. You know the various stages an iPad goes through in it's life time - (rare) Earth, Air, Fire, Water - I guess it's end state would of course be Carbon - hey wasn't that a Mac API?

    Or maybe the iPad fX - with built in fire Xtinguisher.

    This could be a fun little game.... name that iPad.

  50. johnrwalker

    Speaking as an Australian- this is the first I have heard of this story... are you sure it happened?

    I would guess that, if it did happen, it is most likely to be related to lithium batteries which have a known (small) risk of fire if charging somehow goes 'wrong'..

    1. Geoff Thompson

      I found it on serveral sites, including this one

      http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/vodafone-store-evacuated-after-ipad-explodes/story-fn6vigfp-1226755945189

  51. Wallyb132
    FAIL

    Probably fake

    I read all the comments saying this story is fake, so I looked a little deeper. This supposedly occurred in Canberra. Looking on the local news site canberratimes.com.au. One would think this would be a big incident that would be all over the local news, but nope, not a word, as a matter of fact mum is the word all just about every Australian news site.

  52. Wisteela
    FAIL

    Another quality Apple product

    1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge
      FAIL

      Another well thought out and reasoned comment

  53. Hans 1
    Boffin

    Daily Mail, source of all hoaxes

    I knew this was fake the minute I saw Daily Mail as the prime source ...

  54. Dave Cheetham

    Fire? We have an APPliance for that!

    Coat please.

  55. RWL2013
    Mushroom

    FANBOIS?!

    "Fanbois", really?!

  56. Dems
    Flame

    Well, there's no fire without air

  57. Arachnoid

    Maybe the civil aviation authority

    Should impose a ban on these iTems being taken aboard planes until they have a fire certificate.

  58. Faye B
    Coat

    Hot News

    - "saw a "burst of flames" shoot out of the iPad's charging port."

    Are they sure it wasn't the firewire connection.

    I bet I get flamed for this one.

    Some bright spark thought it would be good for a laugh but I suspect its a smokescreen.

    Good for those with a burning desire to own Apple kit. It must have been a hot deal.

  59. Monkeyboyinternational

    It's the new "crim" chip apple have fitted to the ipad air. When a criminal picks up the ipad it will automatically burst into flames, thus putting the criminal off trying to steal the ipad. For some reason this chip seems to be working more effectively in Australia than any other country at launch?

  60. Herba

    Is this a news site or a propagande site?

    1st. Its was not even an ipad air

    2nd, the fire was started by a faulty third party charger...

  61. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    New from Apple..

    The ILighter.

    64GB of music, OLED display AND it lights your finest Cuban cigars etc with its advanced flame free technology (tm), 36 hour playtime or 100 lights, inductive charging plus Lightning(tm) emergency charge output.

    Plus doubles as an emergency flare in the event of a water landing, or getting lost in the middle of nowhere with a flat phone battery 'cos *phones *hate* being used at -10 Celsius...

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