Apple Computer and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a recall Friday of Apple iBook and PowerBook computer batteries, saying consumers should immediately cease using the series of batteries in question. Apple has established a Web site and telephone number for consumers to use to exchange the batteries for a free replacement.

The announcement noted that about 128,000 of the suspect batteries were sold in the U.S. The batteries were manufactured by LG Chem Ltd., of South Korea and the assembly of the products in question was carried out in Taiwan and China.

"An internal short can cause the battery cells to overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers," Apple and the CPSC stated. Of the total of six reports of batteries overheating that Apple received, the firm said two were in the U.S.

The recalled lithium ion batteries were manufactured for use with the 12-inch iBook G4, the 12-inch PowerBook G4, and the 15-inch PowerBook G4. Batteries recalled include those with model numbers A1061, A1078, and A1079 and serial numbers that begin with HQ441 through HQ507 or 3X446 through 3X510.

The batteries and computers were sold through several outlets including catalogers, Apple stores, and by national and regional resellers.

Last summer Apple and the CPSC issued a recall of batteries used in Apple's 15-inch PowerBook G4 computers. Those batteries were also manufactured by LG Chem, it was reported at the time.