Japan is considered by most of the world to be a magical gadget land, full of amazing devices and cool consumer electronics tools that those of us in the Western world will never get a sniff of, let along get to buy and use. So you will have to excuse us when we scoff a bit at the notion that a recall on the first generation iPod Nano would generate headlines five years after the fact.

Still, it's become a pretty big news item and probably one worth mentioning on the Mac Inspector blog (plus, it involves explosions!)

The case dates all the way back to 2005, when a batch of the very first iPod Nano models were equipped with a faulty battery. According to Apple, only .001 per cent of iPod Nano devices actually got the handset, but those unfortunate few that did faced a rather scary problem.

The faulty handsets were vulnerable to sustaining damage that could cause the lithium-ion battery pack in the iPod to... well... combust. No serious injuries were reported, but even the remote possibility of an electrical fire starting in your pocket tends to put people on edge. On top of that, there was a bit of "exploding battery hysteria" going around thanks to Sony's massive notebook battery recall.

So fast forward to 2008. After investigating claims of fires, Japan's government issues a warning and asks Apple to do something about the combustible battery packs.

Fast forward another two years. The iPhone is performing well in Asia, and the company is hoping for the iPad to do likewise. Word surfaces that Apple is finally offering users a complete replacement for first-generation iPod Nano models that may be vulnerable. Only 400,000 vulnerable units were reported as sold in Japan, and given the turnover rate, Apple will hardly see a major impact on financial figures from users trading in their 2005-2006 Nanos.

And so ends the iPod Nano's fiery five year journey in Japan, with a couple of dozen accident reports, a minor recall and a day's worth of headlines.

12 Aug 2010