The family of a boy who sustained burns after a smartwatch he was wearing caught fire would be compensated, the device’s manufacturer said, adding that it would also offer free tests for all of its Herowatch series.
The 10-year-old sustained second-degree burns on his right arm and first-degree burns on the fingers of his left hand when the watch combusted on Thursday last week.
He requires skin grafts for his injuries, Chinese-language media reported.
Photo courtesy of a New Taipei City consumer ombudsman
About Time Technologies, headquartered in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止), apologized for the incident and said it would have the device examined by a third party to determine why it caught fire, if the boy’s family agrees.
It said the fire might have been sparked by the GJD-E7 battery, an older version used only in the first model of the watch, the Herowatch 1.
There are three other models — the Herowatch 2, Herowatch 2s Pro and Herowatch Mini — all designed for children.
The battery manufacturer said the GJD-E7 series passed IEC testing and has National Communication Commission (NCC) certification, but the battery in the watch in question might have had a microscopic crack, particularly if there was physical impact.
Exposure to rain or other sources of moisture could also lead to battery deterioration, resulting in a short circuit or other hazards, the manufacturer said.
NCC spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) in a statement on Wednesday said that the battery model was found to have a problem during its first inspection on Nov. 29, 2019, but the problem was fixed and it passed the second check on Aug. 31, 2020.
However, following last week’s incident, the NCC might order a recall of the product, pending an investigation into the cause, Wong said.
From Tuesday next week, people can submit applications on a dedicated Web site (https://forms.gle/15vtuAiDwprQPxt38) for free safety checks of their Herowatches, About Time Technologies said.
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