Most experts agree that we should not be worried about li-ion battery safety. The recall of 6 million Sony batteries was triggered by a failure rate of one in 200 000. But some commentators believe that we'll risk almost anything in our thirst for more 'juice' in our mobile devices.
Young girl holding her pink mobile phone up to the camera
Mobile phones now act as diaries, cameras, videos, even games consoles! Now, if they could make a decent cup of tea, then we'd be talking... Copyright: John Lee, from stock.xchng.
What can your mobile phone do? The one on the desk in front of me has the following functions:
* Messaging, of course, but in multimedia and Flash as well as text
* Addressbook including speed-dialling
* Different tone and display settings
* Recordings, tones and graphics gallery
* Voice recording
* Push-to-talk
* Organiser, including alarm, calendar and to-do list
* Games, calculator, stopwatch and countdown timer
* Web access through GPRS
How many of these functions will lie dormant over the phone's life is anyone's guess, but phone manufacturers believe we demand them. Use any of them for a long while - a long call, for instance; or a protracted games session - and the battery will run down frighteningly fast.
The widespread nature of li-ion batteries in mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops and other devices, makes concerns over safety a very hot topic. Battery experts suggest that around two billion li-ion cells are produced every year. Manufacturers such as Sony act fast to reassure consumers and protect their brand image. The battery recalls this year are part of that effort.
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