Nokia cell phones are exploding in people's pockets and Nokia wants to put the blame on using non-Nokia batteries, which they call "counterfeit" [boldface mine]:
Nokia has cited faulty batteries from independent electronics manufacturers for similar incidents in the past. The company has said these manufacturers violated security requirements that should prevent the battery heating up after short-circuiting, for instance, after the phone is dropped.
According to Bruce Schneier in his book, Beyond Fear, Nokia intentionally cripples non-Nokia batteries:
Nokia spends about a hundred times more money on battery security than on communications security. The security system senses when a consumer uses a third-party battery and switches the phone into maximum power-consumption mode; the point is to ensure that consumers buy only Nokia batteries. Nokia is prepared to spend a considerable amount of money solving a security problem that it perceives -- it loses revenue if customers buy batteries from someone else -- even though that solution is detrimental to consumers. Nokia is much less willing to make trade-offs for a security problem that consumers have.
I'm wondering if Nokia's lack of concern for the consumer and this "maximum power-consumption mode" business might have something to do with the exploding battery problem, adding an explosive deterrent for those who don't wish to pay $17 for "security" features that they don't need.
