iPhone Atlas reported today about the latest, and possibly the worst, bug found on the iPhone. A bug that makes the white Apple startup logo something to be feared and loathed just like the Death Star in Star Wars. The bug is basically only just now becoming known in the blog-o-sphere, but it's a red hot topic on Apple's Discussion board with over 10,000 views and 227 replies posted.

The worst aspect of the bug is that it renders the iPhone useless to most users since it becomes stuck at the white Apple logo while booting up. The user assumes the iPhone is "bricked," when it really isn't. iPhone Atlas posted some recovery tips. Unfortunately, the only fix is to restore the phone as though it were brand new. This effectively erases all settings, contacts, media, etc.

I've had to do this daily for the last week. It's come to the point that myself, consultants and other journalists are suggesting that users boycott the iTunes App Store until Apple publicly recognizes this problem and offers a quick fix for it. I've lost so much time due to this problem and have spent hours each day without a useful phone, that I've finally thrown my hands up in the air and surrendered. While I'm not planning on boycotting anything, I have decided the downtime is just not worth it and I'm no longer loading any Apps onto my iPhone unless absolutely necessary.

In the meantime, I've contacted AppleCare and they've opened a case number for me. I've been in touch with Level 2 support with a promise of hearing more from them and/or Level 3 support later. I'll do whatever I can to help so this problem can be resolved.

Hopefully Apple will sick some Rebel Troops - errr Engineers - on this problem real quick, before I lose any more faith in Apple and its products. In the meantime, I need to find out where the valet parked my X-Wing, there's another Death Star out there somewhere.