UPDATE: Toshiba To Recall 340,000 Batteries

Toshiba said it would exchange the batteries as part of a replacement program it was initiating. Affected batteries were shipped with certain models of Toshiba Tecra and Toshiba Satellite notebooks, a Tokyo-based representative of the company told CRN.

Later, a U.S.-based Toshiba spokesman said the effort was not technically a recall but instead a voluntary exchange that is "completely separate" from recent recalls affecting competing vendors. The spokesman said the company determined that batteries may fail to charge or discharge properly in certain Toshiba notebooks.

Of the batteries in the exchange program, 100,000 are from products in the United States, the spokesman said.

Toshiba battery exchange information, including the specific model numbers involved, can be found at http://bxinfo.toshiba.com.

The affected batteries are from notebooks made between March and May 2006 and "could fail on the road because of problems with storing and transmitting power," according to a Reuters report.

Toshiba said there was no risk of fire or personal danger stemming from any defect in the batteries.

In August, Dell and Apple announced recalls of notebook batteries with Sony-made cells. Both companies said the batteries presented possible overheating hazards in certain circumstances. Dell's recall totals 4.1 million units, and Apple's recall involves 1.8 million units.

The Dell and Apple recalls involved battery cells made by Sony and used in battery packs.