Apple is one company that's known for its slick tightly packaged hardware.  Another company that can stake a claim to that niche is Sony.  Perhaps coincidentally both companies have suffered from some serious overheating issues in recent years.

We reportedly that the recent refresh to the MacBook Pro lineup spiked temperatures up over 100 degrees Celsius.  Now rival Sony's F- and C-Series Vaio laptops are experiencing a "temperature-control defect", which is causing some of its laptops to get hot enough to "cause skin burns."

Alarmingly, the heat is reportedly so extreme that it can actually warp the shape of the laptop, according to Sony.

Sony is recalling 535,000 units sold since January 2010.  That recall breaks down to 259,000 laptops in the U.S., 103,000 in Europe, 120,000 in Asia and 52,000 in Japan.  Sony, based out of Japan says that within Japan it hasn't had any overheating reports, but has received 39 complaints within the U.S. and elsewhere.

The company has set up a page to tell you if you're affected based on your serial number found on your barcode.  If it is, you can participate in the recall by downloading a firmware update from Sony.  It's unclear whether this BIOS update merely clocks down and/or undervolts the processor, or how exactly it accomplishes its cooler operations.

If your Sony Vaio laptop has been damaged by overheating, you should contact Sony for a replacement.

The bad news comes amid a happy fiscal year for Sony which sees the company finally looking to return to profitability.  The company's gaming and TV business units have struggled over the past couple years, but are finally picking up.