Nokia hologram to expose fake, unsafe batteries

Power pack market... er... booming

Nokia has begun applying a holographic sticker to its mobile phone batteries in a bid to prevent fake power packs being inadvertently purchased as the real thing.

The mobile phone giant is pitching the move as a safety matter rather, though it's clearly just as interested in winning back the revenue lost to other battery suppliers.

Over the years there have been a number of examples of mobile phone batteries that have exploded or caught fire, in some instances injuring the user. In each case where a Nokia handset has been involved, the Finnish company has been adamant that the pyrotechnic power packs were fakes.

"With this new Nokia authentication program, we are directly attacking the counterfeiters who manufacture potentially unsafe batteries," said Razvan Olosu, Nokia's VP of mobile multimedia enhancements. "The hologram label enables consumers to identify that the battery they are using is indeed an original Nokia Battery."

In addition to the hologram, Nokia will add an authentication code, hidden under a scratch-off panel. If you're offered a battery without the hologram or a damaged scratch-panel, don't buy it, the company warned. If both add-ons are in place, concerned users can still verify the battery's bona fides by scratching off the panel and checking the ID code by text message or on Nokia's web site, the company said.

Nokia said it is already shipping batteries stamped with the hologram, but only with new phones and replacement battery packs going into the sales channel now. The company admitted "original Nokia batteries without hologram labels will remain on the market for some time. However, their performance does not differ from those sold with hologram labels", it said. ®

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