The Dark Furie

When the iPhone 3GS was first released a few big problems with it were revealed in a very short amount of time, mostly to do with software optimization. Then people started reporting that their devices were overheating. Now, it's fair to say that phones have been known to overheat with extended use before (I recently posted that one of my batteries has swollen up due to overheating) but there's a major difference between most phones and the iPhone - on the iPhone you can't remove the battery. That's right folks, the battery is built into the device which has caused a multitude of problems before (not least being that users can't bring a spare charged battery along for a busy day) but now means that once the battery is affected by overheating, there's nothing the phone owner can do about it.

Apple released this statement about the problem:

Operate iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in a place where the temperature is between 0 and 35 C (32 to 95 F). Low- or high-temperature conditions might temporarily shorten battery life or cause the device to temporarily stop working properly.

If the interior temperature of the device exceeds normal operating temperatures, you may experience the following as it attempts to regulate its temperature:

• The device stops charging
• Display dims
• Weak cellular signal
• Temperature warning screen appears with the message "iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it"

Some conditions and activities that may activate the Temperature warning message:

• Leaving the device in a car on a hot day
• Leaving it in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time
• Using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight.

So let me get this straight, it's the owners faults that the devices are overheating because they've been using them incorrectly? Not only that but it's the weather's fault for being too hot recently. Not a fault with the phone that you're charging people 900 ($1359, 1001, ZAR11423, INR67173, AU$1786) for then (and even that is on a discounted products site)? Yeah, if there's one thing I respect it's when people admit their mistakes.