Some Sony Vaios go, "crackle-crackle, FZZZT"

In Friday's IT Blogwatch, we worry about another blitzkrieg of Sony laptops catching fire. Not to mention your guide to a healthy Ramadan...

Sharon Gaudin explodes with concern:

Sony Electronics Inc. is recalling about 73,000 Vaio laptops in the U.S. because faulty wiring near a hinge can pose a burn hazard ... the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ... recommended that consumers immediately stop using Vaio TZ-series notebook computers.
...
Sony has received 15 reports of overheating, one of which burned a consumer. Either the wiring problem, which is near computer's hinge, or a loose screw in the hinge can cause a short circuit that then causes the overheating.

The recalled laptop models are the Vaio VGN-TZ100 series, the VGN-TZ200 series, the VGN-TZ300 series and the VGN-TZ2000 series. The computers' screen size measured diagonally is about 11.1 inches. The machines in question were sold between July 2007 and August 2008 ... Users can also go to this Web site and input their product code and serial number ... to find out whether their laptop is affected.

Our thanks to Paul Sapiano for the great picture of fire.

Brian X. Chen has déjà vu all over again:

Oops -- Sony's done it again. The company has issued a recall for 438,000 laptops worldwide, after 15 reports of overheating and one burn hazard ... Of the 438,000 laptops that may be affected worldwide, 72,800 were sold in the United States.

This comes as bad news especially for Sony, whose reputation took heavy damage in 2006 after a problem with exploding batteries, which resulted in recalling 9.6 million laptops worldwide ... as devices get smaller, their risk of malfunction and overheating increases -- and designers today face challenges as consumers demand gadgets to get smaller but more powerful.

Sony's Mike Abary (via his laywers) has a soothing FAQ:

Irregularly placed wires near the hinge, or a dislodged screw inside the hinge, may create a short circuit, causing localized overheating ... Models series beginning with VGN-TZ are potentially affected.
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Have there been any incidents where this issue has caused a fire? No.

Kelly Hodgkins does the math:

Short circuit = Overheating + Potential Fire.

15 cases have been reported so this is not a recall based on one man’s long winded tale of how his iPod exploded in his pants pocket (remember that one?).
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So if you or a loved one is toting one, you better give Sony a call. Don’t want to have one burst into flames while you are on an airplane and have them think you are a terrorist or something like that.

Sylvie Barak counts the cost:

Sony shares saw a whopping four per cent drop yesterday, settling at their lowest price for almost three years, after the firm announced it would have to recall hundreds of thousands of fire risk laptops ... [It] had something of an inflammatory effect on the firm’s share prices, which sunk to 3,880 yen ($35.9) last night.

It is not the first time Sony has had its fingers burned, several times in the past few years the company has had to recall laptop batteries due to overheating and fire risks. But Sony reckons the recalls won’t seriously impact its earnings, despite what all the analysts think, and has today unveiled three new computer models which it hopes will not explode into flames.

Michael Fowlkes has more data:

So far, the company has received 209 reports of the popular machines overheating on users, and in 7 instances, users received minor burns as a result of the overheating laptops.
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Of the seven injuries that have been reported, five were reported in Japan, and one in both the United States as well as Italy. The recalled machines are located all over the globe, with around 373,000 of the computers being sold in 48 different countries. The remaining 67,000 recalled machines were sold in Japan.
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The computers in question involve 19 models in the Vaio TZ series.

And finally...

• Your guide to a healthy Ramadan, courtesy of the generous taxpayers in the UK [Hat tip: Peter Bowyer]

Buffer overflow:

• Mini-Microsoft: (tap tap tap) Is This Thing On?
• Locutus: Easily recover from a tarbomb with xargs.
• Mike Masnick: Are 88% Of IT Admins Really On The Verge Of Stealing Sensitive Company Info?
• Pushing String: Venn and the art of data-sharing
• No Jitter: IBM Eyes Nortel Acquisition?
• Paul Conley: Harry McCracken's Guide to Self-Employment

Other Computerworld bloggers:

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• Preston Gralla: Chrome: Google's biggest threat to your privacy
• SJVN: Do you want a notebook with that order?
• Robert L. Mitchell: Delver: We are currently not to hot
• Mike Elgan: Heathrow Terminal 5 Gets Massive Wi-Fi Hotspot
• John Brandon: Wired life-tracking a sign of things to come
• Barbara Krasnoff: Google: Master of the stealth intro
• John Brandon: Google changes Chrome EULA over privacy concerns
• Shark Tank: You asked for it
• Shark Bait: The metric system?

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 22 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Dell to sell $400ish Inspiron Mini 9
• It's GNU's 25th celeb., says celeb.
• Google Chrome: blogosphere explodes