recall

Sony has issued a recall on several Bravia televisions that were produced and sold since 2007, several reports claim.

According to the BBC, a total of 1.6 million of the affected sets have been sold worldwide. Citing a page on Sony's Europe Web site, the news service says Sony's KDL-40D3400, KDL-40D3500, KDL-40D3550, and KDL-40D3660 models, among several others, have been tagged as potential dangers.

"We have recently become aware of a potential issue affecting a very limited number of Bravia LCD TV models, which have been available for purchase in Europe since June 2007," Sony … Read more

Let's all be thankful that the pictured woman enjoying her Shoulderflex isn't wearing a necklace or much in the way of clothing, and also that her hair is tied neatly atop her head. It turns out that necklaces, clothing, and hair have the potential to turn that peaceful look on her face into something else entirely.

No, seriously. One person was strangled to death after her necklace became caught in the personal massager's rotating component, while another was almost killed when a piece of clothing was caught. Still more have been injured when their hair became entangled in the device.

In light of the death and injuries, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning last week that the device posed serious health risks, and yesterday the manufacturer, King International, voluntarily recalled nearly all of its 12,000 Shoulderflex massagers in the U.S. sold between 2003 and 2011.

To be fair, the promotional demonstration of the massager advises users to keep hair and jewelry away from the rotating bar--an obvious caution reminiscent of the floor being slippery when wet.

The video did not, however, warn that failure to do so could result in death by strangulation. (The video appears to have been deleted from a variety of sources as the Beaverton, Ore.-based firm tries to extricate itself from the unraveling imbroglio. Calls to the company for comment, meanwhile, went straight to voice mail.)

If you've got a Shoulderflex on hand, the FDA implores you to throw it away.… Read more

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada yesterday issued a formal voluntary recall notice for Cloud Engines' Pogoplug Video media streaming device.

CNET originally reported the problem in mid-June after the San Francisco-based company sent an e-mail to media outlets and wrote a blog entry detailing an overheating issue with Pogo-11, -12, -13, and -14 devices. The CPSC has fully detailed the extent of the issue, indicating that 11,000 Pogoplug products are suspect, affecting 9,500 units in the United States and 1,500 in Canada.

Cloud Engines received three reports of the device overheating, prompting … Read more

Apparently a batch of the 1TB Seagate hard drives that shipped with iMac systems between May and July of 2011 may fail under certain conditions, and as a precaution Apple has started up a replacement program for the affected iMac systems. The Macs will be either the 21.5-inch or 27-inch models, provided they have been configured with the 1TB drives; other drive configurations such as the 2TB or SSD options are not affected.

If you have purchased one of these iMac configurations, Apple will likely contact you regarding the drive replacement, provided you gave a valid e-mail address when … Read more

Toyota Motor Corp. today announced the recall of about 45,500 Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h vehicles from the 2006 and 2007 model years and sold in the United States.

According to Toyota, the vehicles could lose power or stall completely because of a transistor inside the hybrid system's inverter that could overheat.

The problem involves certain transistors inside the Intelligent Power Module on the control boards in some of the vehicles which "were inadequately soldered."

If this were to occur, various warning lamps will illuminate on the instrument panel, Toyota said, and the … Read more

Cloud Engines, makers of the Pogoplug series of products, announced a recall of its most recent Pogoplug Video--a device we've been testing here at CNET. According to an e-mail sent last night, all Pogoplug Video units (Pogo-11, -12, -13, and -14) are susceptible to overheating and, in at least one reported case, erupting in actual flames.

Owners of the Pogoplug Video are urged to unplug any hard drives and turn off the devices immediately. (Update/correction: Cloud Engines is currently asking that owners collect proof of purchase and await further instructions on the return process.)

The recall is only … Read more

Apple confirmed to AllThingsD today that it has recalled a very small number of Verizon iPad 2 models after the products were inadvertently shipped with identical electronic serial numbers.

The numbers, officially known as mobile equipment identifiers (MEIDs), are important in the activation of devices that use Verizon's cellular network and are designed to be unique to the individual device.

"Duplicate MEID numbers were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad 2 units for the Verizon 3G network," an Apple representative said today.

Although most of the small number of devices involved were still in the process of hitting the market, a few had already found their way into customers' hands.

Word of the issue had cropped up on various Apple enthusiast blogs, including 9to5Mac.

Apple said at its developer conference on Monday that it has sold 25 million iPads since the original tablet debuted last year and some analysts believe it could sell another 8 million this quarter. However, there have been some issues along the way, including a deadly May 20 explosion at a Foxconn plant in China believed to be manufacturing the iPad 2.… Read more

Hewlett-Packard is adding to the list of notebook battery models that pose a safety hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

HP has voluntarily recalled an additional 162,600 lithium ion batteries used in some HP and Compaq notebooks sold between July 2007 and July 2008. The batches of batteries included with 31 models of its notebooks can "overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards," according to the CPSC.

The latest round of batteries being recalled is in addition to the 70,000 recalled in May 2009 and 54,000 in May 2010, all for the … Read more

Sony is a venerable name in the world of consumer electronics. This is, after all, the company that invented the CD, the Walkman, the Blu-ray Disc, and has made a deep impression on the tech world and mainstream culture.

That's why when Sony screws up--something a company is apt to do every now and again while in business more than half a century--it's notable. Sometimes it's a singular event, other times it's a product with high expectations that ends up being a dud.

The latest mistake, the hacking of PlayStation Network customers' personal data, is … Read more