BATTERY

Passengers are greeted with a new flight restriction from January 1, as the U.S. Transportation Department bars travelers from packing loose lithium batteries in checked luggage.

A 33-year-old South Korean quarry worker was found dead with a burning mobile phone stuck to his chest, police and the doctor who examined the man said on Thursday.

Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers, the Japanese company said.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co said on Friday that Nokia's replacement of mobile phone batteries made by the Japanese electronics maker is likely to cost it 10-20 billion yen ($86-$172 million).

Nokia said 46 million batteries used in its phones could overheat and it would replace them free to consumers while negotiating with battery maker Matsushita over who would bear the costs.

Toshiba Corp. said on Thursday it has recalled more Sony Corp. laptop computer batteries due to fire risk, rekindling concerns over the safety of Sony-made batteries.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers (PC) slipped to 7.9 percent in the third quarter of the year according to industry observers, driven down by weak sales in the United States.

Despite recent massive recalls of batteries by major PC manufacturers, the world wide battery demand is projected to rise at nearly 7 percent per year, reaching $73.6 billion by 2010.

A number of major PC manufacturers have issued recalls on batteries manufactured by Sony Corp in recent months, citing the potential for failures leading to hazardous explosions. Despite the growing concern, HP, decided on Tuesday that its systems are safe and that the company will not issue any recalls.

The recall of Sony manufactured batteries for notebooks by major PC manufacturers could cost the PC industry over $280 million, one market research firm concludes.

Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. joined a growing list of computer makers recalling Sony Corp. batteries in the latest blow to consumer confidence in Sony's reputation as a manufacturer. Toshiba announced a recall of 830,000 laptop batteries prone to short-circuiting and even catching fire.

Dell announced on Friday that an additional 200 thousand batteries need to be recalled, expanding the initial recall the firm placed in August.

Lenovo Group Ltd, the 3rd largest personal computer maker in the world, become a new member of pc makers annoyed by the problem......

IBM Corp. and Lenovo Inc. are recalling over half a million battery packs for its ThinkPad notebook computers equipped with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony Corp.

IBM Corp. and Lenovo Inc. are recalling over half a million battery packs for its ThinkPad notebook computers equipped with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony Corp.

Lenovo Group Ltd.(0992.HK), the world's third-largest personal computer maker, said on Monday it is looking into a fire incident on a Lenovo laptop PC equipped with a Sony Corp. (6758.T) battery.

Lenovo Group Ltd., the world's third largest personal computer maker, said on Monday it is looking into a fire incident on a Lenovo laptop PC equipped with a Sony Corp. battery.

Japanese electronics maker Sony said on Saturday it is investigating a fire incident on a Lenovo laptop PC that reportedly used a Sony-made battery.

Concerns over exploding computer batteries may be heating up, but alternative power sources for portable devices like laptops, music players and cellphones could still be up to 10 years away.

Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday it would replace about 340,000 laptop computer batteries worldwide, the third recall of faulty batteries made by Sony Corp. in less than 40 days.

It seems to be one thing after another for Sony Corp. these days.