Who (or what) Killed the iPhone's Battery Life?

The iPhone 3G S has enjoyed tremendous popularity thanks to its powerful hardware, slick (and abundant) applications, and new features. However, it has also had its problems with overheating and signal strength. Now a new problem has been rearing its ugly head -- poor battery life.

For a mobile gadget, especially cell phones, battery life is critical. And when it comes to battery life, many are finding the iPhone to come up unexpectedly short. Apple's support forums are seeing a large volume of battery-related gripes. Writes one user, npshenoy2, "My charge did not last from morning to evening with a very moderate usage of checking mails just 5 times in a day and 10 minutes of YouTube video. All this was on Wi-Fi with 3G turned off."

Theories about the cause are becoming abundant as well. Brian X. Chen of Wired.com believes that the problem is caused by a defective batch of hardware. Meanwhile, The Examiner's Daniel Nations blames the iPhone OS v3.0 update for the problems. He based this theory on the fact that the first reports surfaced after the update.