by Kimberly Munsey-Carlton

Created on: January 08, 2011   Last Updated: January 09, 2011

All mobile phones have the potential to overheat. Cell phone carriers and manufacturers are quite aware that these devices, especially smart phone data devices, are susceptible to these sudden bursts of overheating, even including it in their troubleshooting flows. Smart phones are the most likely to heat up simply because they have better processors and the faster the processor the more dissipated the heat, especially when the handhelds are running at full tilt.

Companies like Apple have tried to address the issue by educating customers on their findings when studying the overheating, and even exploding, iPhones/ iPods. Whether consumers like it or not, the evidence for unlocking or Jailbreaking the devices to use with any carrier, seem to be the potential cause for erratic temperature rises in the iPhones. Jailbreaking, taking off the proprietary restrictions, modifies the iPhone’s MobileSubstrate, Baseband. This is the key controller of all system operations from simply making calls to doing its scheduled system health check. If the iPhone remains unmodified it supposedly can detect overheating and will make itself cooler by reducing the clock in the central processing unit, the CPU, to a lower value. When the CPU runs at maximum clock speed the device overheats until it is burning hot, even impossible to touch.

If your phone is warm this is not always a sign of overheating but if it is hot to the touch, will no longer take or quickly depletes the charge, the cell signal is weak even in normally good coverage areas or the display is dimming these can be signs of overheating. Just like dropping in water the best thing to do when you suspect a device is surging in to high heat mode is to power it down. Other tips are:

- Extreme temperatures should be avoided. Leaving a device in a hot car or in direct sunlight for long periods of time is not a good idea. Optimum usage temperatures range from 32º to 95º F and 0º and 35º C. Optimum storage temperatures are also generous and range from -4º to 113º F or .20º and 45º C. Note the difference between usage and storage temps.

- You may notice than when you are really working out the device with gaming or running a GPS program that the device gets hot. Limit these activities.

- While cases can protect the device from external damage and wear they can also insulate the device and create overheating. Be smart when buying protection, especially impenetrable silicone.

- Download a task manager. There is no excuse for not adding a task manager out of the box. Not only does this app save battery life but will save your processor.

- If your iPhone sends you a cry for help via the temperature warning screen don’t ignore it. Stop using the device and let it cool. Unless they are calling you with the winning Lotto numbers it is not worth frying your phone, so give it time. The iPhone usually won’t allow anything but emergency calls in this mode anyway.

The risk is that overheated electronics cause the integrated circuits (ICs) to explode, and can even cause lithium Ion batteries to catch fire. Unbelievable videos circulate on the internet about exploding phones like the Apple iPhones. While these videos go viral most consumers doubt that their own device could ever become an explosive even when they find the device suddenly overheating. An explosion would be a rare case, since most cell phones now have an intelligent management especially when it comes to power and battery life.

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