Dell, Apple and others to discuss battery problems

Here’s a meeting that likely won’t be jovial and fun – Dell, Apple and other PC makers will be getting together to discuss the recent battery woes.

The electronics industry trade group, which will get together on September 13, will be discussing setting design and safety standards for lithium-ion batteries for portable devices. In the wake of laptops turning into incinerators and the recall of more than 6 million batteries, that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

The meeting was set before Dell and Apple had to recall batteries. A Dell executive currently heads up the group.

The one company that should be there may not end up attending. Sony, who made all of the problem batteries, is not a member of the group, and has not yet committed to being there. The problems with the fiery Sony batteries came about because little shards of metal got into the cells while they were being made, which caused short circuiting (and bursts of flame).