Hmmm, Why'd My Phone Explode?

Tiny story on Cnet: Brazilians are suffering from a veritable epidemic of cell phone explosions. A whopping five phones have exploded in the last two months, all involving Motorola handsets.

The culprit? Nobody knows for sure, but Motorola is blaming third-party batteries, which have indeed been found to be explosion-friendly in various handsets over the last few years.

This is less of a problem in the States, where aftermarket batteries aren't nearly as popular, but the advice is the same as I'd give in Rio: Even though it might be tempting to save a few bucks, shell out for a real battery from the original manufacturer if you find you need a replacement. The burn ward thanks you in advance.