A few rotten Apples spoil the barrel: three Frenchmen, an 11-year-old British girl and 15 people in the US have claimed their iPhones spontaneously exploded, which the company is calling "isolated incidents". French security guard, Yassine Bouhadi, 26, says he was hit in the eye with a glass shard in August when the screen of his iPhone shattered, while he typed a text message. "I want an explanation about this damned telephone," said Bouhadi, who forked out $1024 for his dog n' bone. France's competition, consumer affairs and fraud watchdog, the DGCCRF, have launched an investigation, while the European Union's consumer affairs commissioner said the EU would recall iPhones if they're found to be faulty. "I don't need Apple's permission to stop goods from entering the market," Meglena Kuneva told reporters in Brussels last month. Sassy.

Should we be worried?

Apple said that all of the handsets they had seen with broken screens were caused by an "external force" (read: they were dropped, or smashed by frustrated users). And as one Business Week journalist in the US suggests, there's hardly enough claims to warrant a recall. To date, Apple has sold 26 million iPhones throughout the world. Even if 50 people had reported their iPhones had shattered spontaneously, that's 0.0002 per cent of all iPhones sold. You're more likely to be injured by a falling coconut.

SWEET TALK Dial in to the latest do-it-all phones

IF YOU'RE AN... Explorer

LOOK FOR A heavy-duty phone, fit for a Lara Croft-esque action woman. You'll want a model that's shock, splash and dust resistant.

OUR PICK The Samsung B2700, $269 (or free on 3 mobile's $29 cap). Search for the B2700 on YouTube and you'll see people drop it in water, drive over it with a truck and play ice hockey. With. It. A torch, compass, altimeter (to gauge altitude), pedometer, loud speakerphone, world clock, stop watch, camcorder and lanyard hook means this baby wouldn't be out of place dangling from a mountain climber's backpack.

Pick up the November 09 issue for five more do-it-all phones - on sale: 12th October