SINGAPORE: Mr Ong Z.M. was resting at home with his
family on Tuesday night when the power supply tripped, putting out
all his electrical appliances and plunging his house in
darkness.
This happened after his 60-year-old father's iPhone
4 emitted sparks, smoke and a loud explosive sound while it was
being charged.
"I was so freaked out ... There was a very loud
'boom' and the phone just blacked out. (The phone) was also very
hot," said Mr Ong, 35, who called the MediaCorp Hotline.
According to checks with SingTel, M1 and StarHub, Mr Ong's
experience is believed to be the first such reported case involving
an iPhone here. Such cases have been reported overseas recently,
with at least one incident linked to phone modification or the use
of counterfeit batteries.
In November last year, a Brazilian's iPhone 4, which was plugged in
for an overnight charge, suddenly began sparking and emitting
smoke.
Mr Ong, who works in sales, told TODAY that his father is a light
user of the one-year-old phone and did not modify it in any
way.
According to Mr Ong, SingTel replaced his father's iPhone 4 for
free.
Responding to TODAY's queries, a SingTel spokesperson said
customers could get their faulty iPhones replaced if it is a defect
covered under the warranty or if the warranty is still valid.
However, the spokesperson declined to comment whether it follows up
with Apple on iPhone defects.
When contacted, Apple declined to comment on the possible causes of
iPhones emitting sparks, smoke and a loud explosive sound while
being charged.
Meanwhile, Internet security company Symantec warned on Wednesday
that scammers are "trying to take advantage of the hype"
surrounding Apple's yet-to-be-released iPad 3. It has come across
scam e-mails claiming a Facebook-Apple promotion to give away a
free iPad 3 in return for a completed survey.
According to Symantec, the scammers introduce themselves as
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg. They then try to
entice potential victims by stating how they have been randomly
selected from Facebook's database.
"Fortunately, it is easy to ascertain a scam email due to the poor
grammar," Symantec added in its press release.
- TODAY
