Lenovo to recall 526,000 notebook batteries

By Michael Kanellos

Lenovo will recall 526,000 notebook batteries due to faulty batteries, the company said on Thursday.

The batteries were designed by Lenovo, but Sony produced the lithium ion cell. The recall impacts notebooks produced from Feburary 2005 to September 2006, according to Lenovo spokesman Ray Gorman. For now, the recall will only impact about 5 percent to 10 percent of notebooks produced by Lenovo, Gorman said, but the company recommends that all customers go to the Lenovo site and check to see if they have one of the faulty batteries.

Separately, Sony announced that it will initiate its own recall program involving battery packs using its battery cell technology. Details will be announced later in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, but the program will involve the replacement of affected battery packs "in order to address concern related to recent overheating incidents," Sony said in a press release.

With the recall, Lenovo becomes the fourth major PC manufacturer to haul batteries back due to safety problems. Dell said that it would recall 4.1 million notebook batteries in August, and Apple Computer subsequently announced it had to recall 1.8 million notebook batteries. Toshiba, meanwhile, said this month that it would recall 340,000 batteries.

A Lenovo ThinkPad T43 caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month. In August, Lenovo said it was speaking with Sony about the issue. While Lenovo did begin to examine the potential for problems in the wake of the Dell and Apple recalls, the PC maker said that the way it puts batteries in its hardware differs from the other companies' methods. Lenovo acquired the ThinkPad line of notebooks from IBM, which historically has been known for careful design.

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The problem with the recalled notebook batteries rests with lithium ion battery cells made by Sony. PC makers and component suppliers buy these cells and design batteries around them. These battery cells can provide several hours of electricity to notebooks, but the liquid inside them is flammable. If a short takes place, a chain chemical reaction can occur that melts the battery or causes the notebook to explode. Lenovo actually inserts technology into its batteries to prevent chain reactions and has contemplated licensing it to others.

Like the gas tank in a car, lithium ion batteries in most instances are safe. However, to extend battery life, battery makers have been putting more flammable liquid into these batteries, and making other parts inside the batteries smaller and thinner. This, in turn, increases the potential problem, as it is more likely that thinner materials will come loose and interfere with the proper working of the battery cell.

Back in 2004, Sony execs said lithium ion technology would likely be hitting its limit in 2006.

Start-ups and venture capitalists are tinkering with alternatives to lithium ion, such as zinc-based batteries, but these are not available yet.

HD DVD coming to Xbox 360 in US, Europe

By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

Microsoft has expanded on its plans to launch an HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console to markets in North America and Europe, the company said at its X06 gaming event in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday.

The drive will be available in mid-November in North America, the U.K., France, and Germany, and will cost US$200 in North America, €200 in France and Germany and £130 in the U.K.

The add-on drive was first announced in Japan last week ahead of the annual Tokyo Games Show and Microsoft said it would hit Japanese retail shelves from Nov. 22 and cost ¥19,800 (US$168).

Plans to launch the drive in other markets haven’t been announced yet although there is likely to be little demand from consumers in other countries at present. HD DVD is only just getting off the ground in major markets and hasn’t been launched in large parts of the world.

With the drive Xbox 360 owners will be able to watch high-definition HD DVD movies on their television through the console. Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 just under a year ago with a standard DVD drive and in adding the HD DVD option is making its console more competitive with Sony’s PlayStation 3, which will go on sale in Japan and North America in November and which features a drive for the rival Blu-ray Disc format.

At the same event Microsoft also said it is partnering with Academy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Peter Jackson. Jackson, best known for his adaptations of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “King Kong,” will make two interactive entertainment series exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The first will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to create a further chapter in the Halo series and the second will see a new game created.

Other gaming software announcements included Halo Wars, a real-time strategy game based on Halo; a new title in the Splinter Cell series that will be exclusive to Xbox 360; BioShock, a first-person shooter exclusively on Xbox 360 and Windows; Project Gotham Racing 4, the latest in the car racing series; a Banjo-Kazooie game for the Xbox 360; and Marvel Universe Online, a new multiplayer online game.

Microsoft also said that Doom is now available in the Xbox Live online marketplace and that Sensible World of Soccer, based on an Amiga title from 1994, will soon be available through the online game download service.