Ever since the iPhonewas released, people have tinkered with them to get the most out of them including those who would want them to be free of the control measures phone companies use to secure their investments. Phone companies have long implemented security measures such as programming within devices for them to work only with their specific networks which guarantees their profits and gains when they offer the latest gadgets such as free phones for subscription services.
The iPhone being a hot gadget has earned its place as one of the top listers in devices that are subject to such activity. With the announcement of the recent hacks previous people have (that are supported by video evidence and other supporting media) others have joined the bandwagon and started to do their own tinkering (that is surely to void the warranty) sometimes ending in utter failure or in one case, even having the device emitting the mysterious puff of smoke that is a sure sign of internal circuitry frying in its own juice ending with a noticeable explosion of sorts sending it into oblivion.
The incident resulted in a burned unit that is surely to become a real example of how dangerous these activities are without the proper knowledge of electronics and other related subject matter. Adding to the list of devices that have suffered from battery failures such as the recent battery recalls by Nokia for cellular phone batteries that blew up due to some design problems that overloaded their cells during charging. And the recalls of laptop batteries due to similar design flaws with their portable power sources that have a knack of blowing up in the most public/high-profile places such as in a conference.
These gizmos have internal batteries that can fail even when unplugged due to current stored within them can cause significant damage due to hazardous chemicals that might be released when burned (So heed the warning on rechargeable batteries and standard batteries that they should not be disposed of in fire and in the trash bin) that are quite inert when inside their packaging but improper charging, over-charging or installing them in reverse polarity can cause them to leak or even burn clothing, bedding and skin. (Ouch.. Sorry bout the 500 bucks you paid for the crispy device.)