Cell-phone batteries could overheat and erupt.(recalls & safety alerts)(Brief Article)

Kyocera is recalling more than 100,000 batteries used to power its Smart-phone cell phone/PDA combos because they could short-circuit, overheat, and possibly explode. One injury, a minor skin burn, had been reported as this issue went to press. The suspect lithium-ion batteries (front and back shown at right), made for Kyocera by Coslight International Group of Hong Kong were sold between September and December 2003 with the $500 Smartphone 7135 or separately for about $20.

John Chief, a Kyocera spokesman, said that a quality-control problem on the assembly line resulted in parts of the battery's inner core or cell touching each other. That can lead to a short circuit …