After prodding from the Japanese government, Apple Inc will post prominent notices on its Web site warning some iPod Nano music players in Japan may overheat.
Sixty-one cases of batteries overheating have been reported in first-generation iPod Nano machines sold in 2005 and 2006, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
MINOR BURNS
Some units were warped by the heat that caused minor burns when people touched them, but no serious injuries or damage have been reported, it said.
A notice for a battery replacement was posted late last year on Apple Japan’s Web site, but it requires several clicks before it can be read.
The government, in talks with Apple Japan since last year, pressed the company to correct that, ministry official Seiji Shimagami said on Friday.
Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said an easily accessible Web page will be set up by early next week that outlines how to get a battery replacement.
Apple will also send e-mails to registered owners, he said in a telephone interview from California. “Safety is the highest priority for Apple,” Neumayr said.
BIG FANS
Japanese are among the world’s biggest fans of Apple products, standing in long lines to snatch up iPhone models and the iPad as soon as they go on sale.
The ministry said 1.8 million first-generation iPod Nano players have been sold in Japan, but it is unclear how many of those have the problem battery.
Neumayr declined to comment on whether Nano players in other parts of the world may be affected by the same problem.
Last month, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs offered free protective cases to buyers of the iPhone 4 to prevent reception problems occurring when people cover a spot on the phone with a bare hand.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last