Podzilla crushes Tokyo travellers

AN OVERHEATING IPOD has done what countless Godzillas failed to do, force delays to Tokyo's commuter trains.

Reuters reports that during the morning commute passengers started complaining about a strong burning smell on one of its trains, and we assume, panicked.

Moving with the sort of rapidity that is alien to UK railway workers, technicians and employees descended onto the train, only to find that it wasn't the train that was on fire, but someone's pocket.

"When a member of staff went to investigate inside the train, a passenger came over showing him that the iPod she was listening to had burst apart," a railway spokesman told Reuters.

This is not the first time that an Ipod has gotten a bit too hot under its cover in Japan, and Reuters said that there have been about sixty reported incidents. Earlier this month the Japanese government told Apple it would have to do something to sort this out and, believe it or not, Apple did.

Having initially tried to throw the buck at its battery suppliers, Apple conceded a little and at first offered to replace the batteries on Ipod Nanos and then to replace the Ipod Nanos themselves, which might be tricky given that these are first generation Ipod models. Whatever, the cappuccino company's action was met with approval from the Japanese goverment.

In this case, it is not known what model Ipod was involved, so we can only hope and wait for a photofit. What is known is that Japanese trains are known for their punctuality.

Or at least they were until today. µ