Modified iPhone 4 Spontaneously Combusts

The media is frenzied over the story about an iPhone 4 spontaneously combusting on a plane. Apparently, the phone heated up, and a spot began to glow red on it. It also smoked. It was extinguished immediately.

It's a scary idea, but they continually omit the most probable reason for the phone combusting: it was modified. Leave it to the media to overhype an iPhone related story to get page views.

As you can see from the photo above, the iPhone 4 in question had the rear glass panel replaced by one that had the Steve Jobs Apple Logo. Therefore, it's easy to see the explosion was caused by the owner's tinkering. Either he broke something internally while adding the new case, causing the battery to short, or the new back panel didn't allow heat to dissipate like the Apple case, causing it to overheat and burst. 

It's most likely the first cause, so if you decide to replace the back panel on your iPhone, be very careful while your phone's innards are exposed. You may also want to either order direct iPhone components, or avoid materials that could trap heat, like wood or thick plastics. Metal back panels can interfere with the signal, so glass is probably the best option after-all. It's possible that the material of the back lent to the iPhone overheating, but it's more likely that in replacing the panel, the user touched something he shouldn't have. Let this be a lesson, always be careful when tinkering with your electronics. 

via MacRumors

Update:
After looking at the phone more, I'm not sure it was a modified iPhone. Most tribute backings I could find had "Steve Jobs" written under the Apple logo. So, it's possible this was a normal iPhone 4. We'll have to wait until we get more info to be sure.