After around 100 incidents of overheating mobile phones, Nokia is issuing an advisory for a massive number of Matsushita-made batteries.
Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries subject to the product advisory could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia is working closely with Matsushita and will be cooperating with relevant authorities to investigate this situation.
Apparently this affects "only" affects 46 million batteries, but the company says no serious injuries have occurred. It's far from good news; the replacement process is likely to be incredibly expensive - and the company is already taking a beating on the stock exchange.
The affected batteries were made between December 2005 and November 2006 - there are more details on the Nokia site.
Update: A Nokia representative just called to say that this isn't legally a product recall. However, any affected individuals can send their batteries back to Nokia and get them replaced for free. I've edited this post to reflect that.
