Contrary to what one might think, this is not a scare article. In fact, we would be the first to attest that “exploding” is a not a feature that one would see with electronic gadgets. Apple simply had one too many run-ins with the occasional overheating and burning issue that it has to be pointed out that the Apple iPhone’s history with fire is hard to ignore.

The chief argument here is that the iPhone (the newest 4, the older 3G/3Gs, 2G), is famous. So famous that if a single iPhone had a serious defect, it would still make it to the headlines. This is the same case now; there has been a single case of an iPhone 4 that had its USB port go on fire (apparently due to a defective part).

Yes, of the over 1.7 million iPhones that were sold, one had a flaming defect. There were no human nor animal injuries sustained, though we highly suspect that both the smart phone and the USB cable are now effectively out of action.

Anyway, this is not Apple’s first time handling such an issue. Just about a year ago, an Apple iPod overheated and caught on fire while it was in the pants of a young boy. The boy was reported to have sustained second degree burns. While this is certainly a lot scarier, the occurrence has never happened again –or so Apple would want us to believe.

There is actually one instance of the older iPhone catching fire –one that Apple certainly made sure to put a lid on by settling the issue out of court with the victims (a girl and her father). It is assumed that they were paid a considerable settlement (which is basically a whole lot of money) and that they had signed a confidentiality contract or a non-disclosure agreement.

More often than not, the mobile phone serves as a very important cache of information and data. Contact lists will have names, phone numbers, address and the email of friends, family and business contacts. Images and videos taken with the devices camera will also be stored on the mobile phone. Documents and other files are also among the things that people find themselves concerned about when it comes to their smart phones.

Thankfully, the average modern mobile phone will hook up to any desktop or laptop computer and allow the use to transfer and store files from the handset into a different location. This will help ensure that no data is lost if the phone is ever damaged, misplaced or stolen. Even a simple phone problem might lead to potential data loss if the repairs would entail that the internal memory be formatted.

Backing up a mobile phone is fairly easy. First off, users should be sure that the device is fully charged. While some devices will actually charge as they are connected to a computer, this is not the case for all mobile phones. And the last thing that users need is for a handset to die out while in the middle of a data transfer –potentially corrupting the file being transferred.

Second, connect the handset to the computer. This is usually done through a USB connector and is import for devices that have large space of internal memory that users rely on. However, for users who do not store anything much on the smart phone itself, and instead, rely on microSD cards for storing important files, the most convenient thing to do would be to just connect the microSD to a reader.

To be sure that all files are properly copied, try to do a direct copy of all files. This can be organized by placing all the files into a single folder, allowing the user to have an exact backup of the phone’s data. Using the syncing features available with special phone software provided by the manufacturer is also a good idea.