If you couldn’t tell from my last post, I am somewhat infatuated with the new iPhone 3G. So with a lot of joy, I found a UPS box sitting on my counter top when I got home the other day. Inside, was the nicest phone I’d ever owned, but an hour later I knew I’d have to send it back!

The iPhone 3G, like the original iPhone and the iPod Touch, have accelerometers that sense the orientation of the device. Unfortunately, the iPhone 3G that I received had an inaccurate accelerometer. In fact, you could describe the tilt sensor as being ‘stuck’.

Using the Dual Level app that I downloaded from the iTune’s app store, I confirmed that my iPhone was getting incorrect readings from one of the accelerometers. Because of this defect, my phone believed that it was permanently placed in a landscape orientation. After witnessing the anomaly in a couple tilt-based games, and also when using the built-in calculator, I called up my telecom and got a replacement shipped out pronto.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. During the phone call to tech support, they had me reboot the iPhone a couple times and they also activated my SIM. By the end of the call, the accelerometer was no longer stuck, but it was still showing a heavy preference for the left landscape orientation — it wouldn’t even sense a right tilt. But then, several hours later, I noticed that it was suddenly responding to right tilt movements and that the Dual Level app was showing the accelerometer’s inaccuracy down to just ~15 degrees. Had the phone came like this, I probably would not have requested a replacement. However, the problem is more noticeable when apps, like games, delicately use the accelerometers. I could easily live with the phone in this state, but reselling it down the road could be a bit sketchy, and I have no plans to keep this thing into the next decade.

I’ve dealt with a lot of tech gadgets in my time, and to occasionally receive a defective product is not surprising at all. Sure, it’s disappointing, and I’d really like to start loading my iPhone with all sorts of apps and media and be on my merry way, but I’ll have to tough it out for a few more days while I wait for the replacement. In the meantime, I still get to use this almost-perfect iPhone, and it’s already made me realize that having a web browser in my pocket at 3G speeds is something that I’ll never be able to live without now that I’ve experienced it!

Do you own an iPhone or have an opinion about it? As much as I like the product, I am a bit weary of Apple’s quality control measures…