Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket explodes in man’s pocket

Apple has accused Samsung of copying its designs on a number of occasions. While the foundation for Apple’s accusations is questionable, this is one area where Samsung clearly stole a page right out of Apple’s playbook. BGR reported earlier this week that a passenger aboard a flight in Australia was welcomed to his destination by a spontaneously combusting iPhone 4. Now, just three days later, a user on the xda-developers forum posted images of his friend’s Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, which supposedly exploded in the man’s pocket. “He said he heard a sound, [felt] a burning sensation on his leg and as he pulled this piece of junk out of his pocket he smelled burning,” the forum user wrote. “There was smoke coming out of his pocket and out of the phone.” It does not appear that the man was injured by the smoldering smartphone. Additional images of the fried Galaxy S II Skyrocket follow below.





source: BGR

Stuff like this is a real danger when it comes to Lithium based batteries. It's a well known issue when it comes to Lithium batteries that if they reach over a certain discharge level, they become unstable.

There have been many radio controlled accidents or fires caused by this and, obviously, with phones as well. Although, these days these are very rare they still happen if the cut off is faulty.

With radio control, there are ways to monitor exact voltages so you can stay well clear of the cut off point but with smaller gadgets, it's all built in and you just have to trust the system shut off. This makes things scarier because these gadgets include things you keep in your pockets or put close to your face.