HP Recalls Photosmart R707 Digital Camera

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is recalling its Photosmart R707 Digital Camera due to an error in the software that manages its battery-charging functions that could cause the camera to burst into flames when employed with a non-rechargeable battery, The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP announced a recall of the software along with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Tuesday. Roughly 679,000 of the affected cameras have been sold across the globe, some 224,000 of which were to U.S. customers, according to the Mercury News.

HP is offering owners of the camera a free CD-ROM or download to fix the problem with the faulty software, the Mercury News reports.

Though the company originally thought the R707 camera, which retails for between $250 and $400, could function with non-rechargeable batteries, it later discovered that Duracell’s non-rechargeable CP-1 battery can cause the camera to ignite when attached to an AC charger or other docking station, according to the Mercury News.

One incident has been reported where the camera was charging on a docking station before bursting into flames, causing some smoke damage to the room it was in but no injuries to its user, the Mercury News reports.

Just last week, Larry Lesley, HP’s senior vice president of digital photography and entertainment, said in an interview that he wanted HP to be the brand that comes to consumers’ minds when considering a camera purchase, according to the Mercury News.

For additional information, visit HP’s site.

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