Nokia recalls cell phone batteries
Is your cell phone feeling a little extra toasty after a long chat? Well, if it's one of 46 million made by Nokia it could be part of a massive battery recall.
On Tuesday, Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, said that a batch of cell phone batteries that were made for the company between December 2005 and November 2006 have been overheating. The company said that around 100 incidents of overheating have been reported, but no one has reported serious injuries or property damage.
The phone batteries affected were made by Japanese manufacturer Matsushita Electric Industrial. The company said it didn't expect the phones to catch on fire, but the overheating did cause phones to short-circuit.
Nokia said that the issue has been limited to the 46 million BL-5C batteries made for Nokia between December 2005 and November 2006. Despite the fact that this type of battery is used in over 30 different mobile phone models, Nokia said only a small proportion of devices were affected. The company has listed the specific phones that have been affected on its Web site.
Nokia has several other suppliers for the BL-5C battery, but only the batteries made by Matsushita Electric Industrial during the specified period have been recalled.
Laptop makers have also been forced to recall batteries for overheating. Earlier this summer, Toshiba recalled some 10,000 batteries made by Sony that were used in laptops, because they posed fire risks. And last summer, Dell announced it was recalling 4.1 million batteries made by Sony that could short-circuit and cause a fire. Dell's recall was followed by Apple, which said some 1.8 million Sony batteries had been affected.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
