Nvidia Shield tablets recalled as battery can catch fire

Chip maker Nvidia has issued a recall for its Shield tablets sold between July 2014 and July 2015 because of a defect in their batteries.

Devices sold in that time period have a battery susceptible to overheating that could pose a fire hazard.

The company said that no other Shield products, including the Shield Android TV set-top box and the Shield gaming portable, are part of the voluntary recall.

Nvidia received four reports of batteries overheating in the US due to thermal runaway, including two reports of damage to flooring, a spokesman said.

Thermal runaway occurs when a temperature increase leads to a further temperature increase, often resulting in destruction. Nvidia has cautioned owners to stop using the recalled slate, back up data, and use an online form to submit it for replacement.

To know whether a tablet owner is affected by the recall, Nvidia Shield owners should go to their settings pane, click "about tablet", and then choose "status".

The field will show the code for the battery. Those with B01 are not affected by the recall. Customers who own devices with Y01 are affected.

Nvidia, best known for its line of graphics processors that power graphical content on computers, pitches the Shield tablet as a slate built for gamers. The device comes in two configurations - a 16GB, Wi-Fi-only model and a 32GB wi-fi and LTE version.