When a fellow worker in Chinese iPhone factory casually snapped her picture, neither could have imagined the Internet buzz they would generate.

It started when a visitor to MacRumors posted three pictures of the winsome young lady (her name has not been released) in an iPhone forum on the site Aug. 20.

"Not sure if this is or is not the 'norm' but I just received my brand new iPhone here in the UK and once it had been activated on iTunes I found that the home screen (the screen you can personalise with a photo) already had a photo set against it!!!!" wrote Markm49uk of Kingston Upon Hull. "It would appear that someone on the production line was having a bit of fun - has anyone else found this?"

The photos attracted enough attention that news organizations both in the U.K. and China soon took an interest. This morning the South China Morning Post tracked down someone at Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwan-based contractor that builds the iPhone for Apple, who confirmed the girl works in a factory in the city of Shenzhen.

The spokeswoman explained that the workers may have taken the photos to test the device but neglected to delete them. Another Foxconn official told China’s, Southern Metropolitan Daily that the mystery girl had not been fired, as several of those commenting on the MacRumors forum had predicted.

Apple as usual had no comment when contacted by the Associated Press, but I think it could be missing a big opportunity here.

Apple could encourage factory workers in Asia to put their photos -- or even their names -- on the iPhones, iPods and Macs they build as a fun gimmick so customers could see the person who built their device. Apple could even supply a template for the workers: "Designed by Apple in California. Built by [insert name here] in Shenzhen, China."

Not every device would have a photo of course, so getting one would be like winning a raffle. It could be one more thing that would set Apple apart from the competition and make its products even more personal.

Why not?

An exceptional UI is let down by poor imaging and battery life

It is strange that an outside manufacturer can come from nowhere in the mobile world to make most incumbent vendors rush to incorporate its features, icon designs, menu layouts, colour schemes, transitions and features in their own products.

Since the original Apple iPhone launched, we’ve seen the launch of the HTC Touch Diamond with TouchFLO 3D, Nokia’s upgrade of Series 60 to Series 60 Touch and Sony Ericsson’s forthcoming X1 with iPhone style multimedia features.

But none of the rival products sport the Apple logo or boast a user interface as slick as the iPhone’s. The first device broke the mould with its simple, but highly powerful interface. With no need for a manual or stylus, it gained a lot of fans.

Little has changed. The 3G model has no picture messaging, Bluetooth file transfer, stereo audio, video recording or cut-and-paste text function either.

Besides 3G, the only other hardware extra is GPS. But most owners won’t care, just as they didn’t the first time around. They will prefer the simplicity of synchronising and copying data between devices.

The 3G model also support HSDPA and comes with 2.0 iPhone software, which introduces the brand new App Store. From the off, 500 applications were released and, unlike other platforms, Apple offers a decent variety – instead of just task managers, weather forecast tools, enhanced calendars and currency converters.

Newcomers needn’t worry either because the handset is so simple to use. A single button can be seen on the front, as well as icons for phone, mail, web and music functions. Buttons controlling, volume and for silent, standby and lock modes are on the sides.

All media syncs through iTunes. Once you’ve attached the iPhone to a chosen machine, you’ll be stuck with it. If you associate the handset with another, all data will be lost, exactly as it would with an iPod.

The .Mac service, now re-brandedas MobileMe, allows synchronisation of photos, videos, podcasts, web bookmarks, calendar appointments and phone numbers with your Mac, PC or any combination. This isn’t free, but you also get 20GB of online storage for files thrown in.

On the main menu, you can also create buttons for your favourite websites and make the device go straight to the iPod controls when you double tap the home key.

The web browser is excellent, but not perfect. For example, you can’t open a link in a new window and small pages can be hard to read because they don’t automatically zoom.

In comparison, Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile (as seen on the HTC Touch Diamond) takes the Safari browser and improves it.

This handset isn’t perfect though. The camera is poor, there’s no video calling and no file transferring.

The battery is fixed inside, so when it runs out you won’t be able to swap it over for a new one. Its lasting power is bad if you use the device heavily. 3G doesn’t kill it; but playing games or watching video does.

The Verdict
The GSM iPhone may not have been amazing, but the user interface was top notch. The one thing that was lacking was 3G – remedied by the updated version – and it adds a GPS receiver too. However, the biggest improvement is the App Store, allowing you to expand the usefulness of the device massively. Battery life remains a concern though, and as imaging is poor you’ll have to be an iTunes lover.

Apple iPhone 3G

Size/Weight: 116x62x12mm/133g
Talk Time/Standby: 5hrs/300hrs
Operating system: Mac OS X
Frequencies: 3G/850/900/1800/1900MHz
Screen size: 320x480 pixels
Camera: 2-megapixels,
1600x1200 pixels
Messaging: SMS, email
Multimedia: Music/video player
Data Services: HSDPA, GPRS, EDGE
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB
Extras: A-GPS, Accelerometer, TV-out