Christchurch man's flaming phone 'an isolated incident' - HTC

A Christchurch man has had his cellphone battery flame-out and melt down on him - literally.

"I was just getting my keys out of my pocket when I noticed that my phone was running insanely hot," Michael Murphy, a blogger and gadget enthusiast, told NBR, relating an incident that occurred on November 3.

The phone was an HTC Magic, a Google Android-based smartphone sold by Vodafone (HTC is a Taiwanese handset maker that manufactures its own phones, plus house brands for many phone companies).

"I pulled it out of my pocket and the back had come straight off it with the battery bulging out.

"The phone was still 'running' except in a low-battery state.

"I ended up ripping the swollen battery out of the phone and chucking it on the ground outside.

"The battery was still too hot to handle.

"About one minute later it vented and shot a pretty awesome fireball before totally catching on fire.

"I got a hose and put out the chemical fire with water.

By then, I was pretty scared of this phone.

"If it had been in my pocket at the time [it burst into flame] it would have done some pretty awesome harm.

"I can only thank God that this didn't go off on the bus, or worse - while driving otherwise my life could have been at risk.

I got in contact with HTC of which told me to send the phone to mobilefonerepair, of which I did - The CSR was ringing me every day and then agreed to have the phone "Replaced" with a new one.

Mr Murphy said he was given a replacement HTC Magic on Tuesday this week, but was taken back that it was a reconditioned handset.

His HTC Magic had been seven months old.

Mr Murphy told NBR he bought it where he used to work, at First Mobile, in Nelson, for $1099 (First Mobile - a Vodafone-affiliated retailer - was bought by Vodafone in August).

NBR only has Mr Murphy's word (and after-the-event photo) to prove the flame-out happened.

But Mr Murphy was vouched for by someone NBR knows, and Mr Murphy was happy to supply all his personal details, and for most of them to be made public (he's currently working at Unleash, a data centre in Christchurch).

He was also vouched for by a frequent NBR source.

Mr Murphy was also a family friend of one of the Pike River miners - Joseph Dunbar - and in sombre mood. It's hard to conceive he would have embarked on a smartphone prank Wednesday and Thursday, when he contacted NBR.

NBR has approached HTC and Vodafone for comment.

A rep for HTC responded, "HTC takes every customer concern very seriously and have already begun a detailed investigation of this situation.

"We believe this is an isolated incident and every precaution is being taken to ensure no other customers are affected.

"Customers can contact HTC if they have any queries at www.htc.com/nz/support or call HTC Customer Care in New Zealand on 09 925 0415."

An online version of the HTC Magic's manual does, like all manufacturers go into exhaustive detail about many eventualities. It includes warnings that the battery may catch fire or explode if mishandled, exposed to a high temperature, or incorrectly replaced.

The lithium ion batteries used in cellphones, laptops and other devices have from time to time sparked product recalls, such as the 100,000 Dell, HP and Toshiba notebooks affected by a faulty Sony battery in 2008. In a previous recall involving the same battery, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission detailed incidents of it causing overheating and fires.

The incident comes at a bad time for Taiwan's HTC, which as well as its own handsets, has also been the traditional supplier of "house brand" phones for major carriers. But Vodafone's world-wide Android release, the Vodafone 845, is made by an emerging handset rival: China's Huawei.