Battery defect

London, Aug. 19: Safety fears about Apple’s iPod Nanos have resurfaced after two players overheated, scorching a newspaper and a woven straw mat.

Japanese officials are investigating a possible battery defect in the popular device. No one was injured, and there was no further damage, Hiroyuki Yoshitsune from the ministry of economy, trade and industry said. The ministry received a similar complaint in March about sparks shooting out of an iPod Nano. They suspect a defect in the lithiuim-ion battery in all three cases, Yoshitsune said, and the government is working with Apple to investigate the problem.

Yoshitsune said the two latest cases involved an iPod Nano, model number MA099, which singed nearby paper in August, and model MA005, which burned a Japanese “tatami” mat, in January. Both players were twisted out of shape from the heat, he said.