Getting battery technology right is apparently harder than it seems. Earlier today we published an article about a Samsung Galaxy S II and a pair of iPhones that nearly exploded, but it looks like there’s more. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Mophie and Best Buy are issuing product recalls on roughly 40,000 iOS accessories due to safety concerns. Starting with Mophie, they make a case for the fourth generation iPod touch that also gives you some extra juice should you find yourself with a low charge. If you own such a case, look for the serial number. Anything between TR113 and TR120 at the start of said serial number needs to be sent back to Mophie, who will gladly send you a free replacement. It’s estimated that around 6,000 of such cases are out there in the wild. Next up is Best Buy. They sell something called the “Rocketfish™ Model RF-KL12 Mobile Battery Cases for iPhone 3G and 3GS“. What said case does should be pretty self explanatory. Best Buy is recalling all 32,000 of them.
Now stuff like this regrettably happens from time to time. Remember when Sony had to recall an ungodly number of batteries they made for laptop manufacturers? That being said, this latest batch of product recalls is the result of Apple not making devices that last long enough. Best Buy and Mophie just filled a consumer need. Would it have hurt Apple to make their iPod touch just a hair thicker and make it last longer? No. The same can be said about the iPhone 3GS. Several friends of the IntoMobile have said that the iOS 5 and iPhone 4S battery problems are best solved by just buying a Mophie. That’s a horrible solution. They know that, we know that, Apple doesn’t.
What do you do if you have battery issues? Carry a charger, buy one of these external battery packs, or just simply use your device less?
[Via: The Verge]
