Sporadic reports have hit internet blogs and gadget sites this week regarding overheating issues with new iPhone 3GS models. Reports from

Iphone over heating Message

The Telegraph suggest that dozens of users have reported overheating issues. According to some owners the device becomes so hot that it’s too hot to pick up and the casing on white 3GS models has turned pink for some.

Several posts to Apple’s iPhone discussion forums appear to confirm these early reports. According to PC World, one of their own writers claims “I became aware the handset had become very hot. Very, very hot — not just on the back, but the entire length of the front face, too”.

French blog Journal Du Geek posted an image of a white iPhone 3GS earlier this week showing that the back of the device had discoloured to pink due to excessive overheating.

Apple hasn’t officially responded to the overheating claims but earlier this week the company posted a support article warning users 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”

Apple claims leaving the device in a car on a hot day or using it in direct sunlight for long periods of time can cause the temperature warning. According to the company using battery heavy applications such as GPS and listening to music in direct sunlight will trigger the warning.

The attack, which hasn’t been described in detail, works when the attacker sends the victim an SMS that could cause the phone to run malicious code or programs without the phone operator’s permission.

“The SMS vulnerability allows an attacker to run software code on the phone that is sent by SMS over a mobile operator’s network. The malicious code could include commands to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a distributed denial of service attack or a botnet”

The good news is that the person who discovered the vulnerability, Charlie Miller, has been working with Apple and he will not discuss in detail the vulnerability until Apple has patched the exploit. This is a good step because if this exploit reached those with malicious intent, millions of iPhone users’ phones could be compromised very quickly because of how fast text messages spread.