Samsung vows to investigate burning Galaxy S3

Samsung has promised to look into an incident that saw one owner's Galaxy S3 exploding in a car.

Posting pictures of the smouldering smart phone on the boards.ie forum, Dublin-based student dillo2k10 writes that he was "driving along with my Galaxy S3 in my car mount when suddenly a white flame, sparks and a bang came out of the phone".

The combusting mobile was destroyed, dillo2k10 says, and slightly burned some plastic on the inside of the car. "I'm really annoyed," he justifiably writes. "That could have been the side of my face or through my pocket and my leg, or set fire to my bed." Having spied the images of the charred gadget, Samsung is now wading in.

Writing on its official blog, Samsung says it is "aware of the issue and will begin investigating as soon as we receive the specific product in question".

"Once the investigation is complete," the South Korean tech giant explains, "we will be able to provide further details on the situation."

Samsung signs off with a curt reminder that it's committed to providing shoppers with safe products, and says it's looking "seriously" at this phone-flaming incident. Meanwhile, in an update to his original post, dillo2k10 says Samsung sorted him out with a replacement mobile, and that the fault could have been caused by a combination of his S3's car mount and the vehicle's heating system.

Here's hoping this was an isolated incident, and that Galaxy S3 owners don't have to worry about their phones malfunctioning in a potentially dangerous way. I'll let you know if I hear anything from Samsung on the matter.

Apple found itself in hot water over concerns that its new iPad became worryingly warm during use. A CNET investigation showed that while the company's third tablet did get warmer than its predecessor, it wasn't too toasty.

Are you enjoying your Galaxy S3? Or is your heart set on a cooler smart phone? Say so in the comments, or over on our Facebook wall.

Image credit: Boards.ie user dill2k10