Is That An iPod In Your Pocket, Or…?

An Atlanta man may have found out just how hot Apple's iPod nano can be: he claims Apple's diminutive music player caught on fire in his pants pocket.

It may become the pickup line of the digital generation: “Is that an iPod in your pocket…or are you just really hot?”

Atlanta’s Danny Williams says his nerly two year-old iPod nano caught fire in his pants pocket while he was at work in a kiosk at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Williams claims the flames leaped up to his chest, and the fre lasted about 15 seconds—in interviews, Williams sais glossy paper in his pocket may have prevented him from being burned.

Although iPod nanos are powered by lithium-ion batteries, no relationship has been established between the batteries used in iPod nanos and the more than 10 million lithium-ion batteries manufactured for notebook computers—and subsequently recalled—by Sony. Nonetheless, the idea of a battery-powered device catching fire is leading many industry watchers and members of the public to draw parallels: the faulty Sony-made notebook computer batteries famously caused a handful of computers to burst into flames.

Hundreds of millions of devices—ranging from computers to cameras to clocks to music players to cell phones—are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Overall, the battery technology is considered to have an excellent safety record. The most common causes of failure are damage or misuse.

Apple has refused to comment on the incident, although reports indicate the company has sent Williams a packet to return his iPod nano for replacement.