FollowIn China, a woman named Ma Ailun was electrocuted while answering a phone call. Through an interview, her brother conveyed that she received an electric shock while answering a call on her iPhone which was kept for charging. Xinhaunet, a Chinese news agency reported that the woman died because of electrocution on last Thursday.
The 23-year old worked as a flight attendant for China Southern Airlines. Another news agency from China, Xinhua, reported that the police are investigating the case. However, they did not confirm that mobile phone was the cause of the death.
Apple’s spokesperson from Beijing, Carolyn Wu said that Apple is also investigating on the case and she added that the Cupertino firm is quite saddened by the unfortunate incident and offered condolences to the family of the victim. Ma was planning to get married in the next month.
The deceased had purchased the iPhone in December 2012 from an Apple Store and she was using the charged provided in iPhone’s package to charge her phone. The older sister of Ma posted on Sina Weibo which micro blogging site like Twitter is saying that she hopes that Apple Inc provides them an explanation. Also she urged the people not to talk on the phone while it is kept on charging. The message was reposted over 3000 times on Sina Weibo.
In 2010, in China a man was killed while attending a call when the phone was kept on charging. However, he was an unauthorized charger. Many experts and researchers say that it is harmless to use the handset while it is recharging.
The output of a cell phone charger is about five volts which is quite low and really not dangerous enough to cause any harm. Hence, there is no risk involved in talking on phone while charging. However, if there is a fault in the charger or if there is problem with the wiring of the mains, then there is a possibility of getting harmed.
It is advisable to not attend a call when the phone is connected to the mains while you are taking a bath or if you are extremely wet. There is possibility that the water can slide down the wire and reach the mains which can lead to electric shock.
In the recent past, it was also reported that a Swidish teenager had encountered third degree burns when her Samsung Galaxy S3 blasted inside her pocket. Even Samsung has assured that they will look into the matter.
In this year, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had already apologized to China and changed the warranty policy of the company after the Chinese media had argued on the same for quite some time. What happened was iPhone users in China were asked to cough up $80 for new rear covers for the iDevices but those covers were available for free in other markets of the world.
For long time, China was mainly considered as a major supplier but now it has turned into a huge market for tech products like the iPhone. Now that China has become a major market, Apple should step up and provide a good explanation after thorough investigation.
