Engadget Mobile has posted a link to a forum in which an individual claims to have issues with the oleophobic coating on his iPhone 3GS wearing off.

Is it possible? Sure, anything is possible. Is it likely this will happen to you? Highly unlikely. There could be a few explanations here: could be a simple case of user abuse, perhaps it is a stroke of bad luck for the owner who happened to get a defective iPhone, or maybe the screen needs to be cleaned!

Whatever the case may be - there is no reason to panic. This is a single report - TiPb has found no other cases of users having this very issue, even within the 10 page thread linked above. Nobody really knows what really happened here so there's no need to worry. Start to worry when flocks of people start having issues with it.

Until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy your iPhone 3GS.

[Via Engadget]

Gizmodo earns geek cred elite by getting the one and only (unless he's figured out how to clone himself) Bill Nye, the Science Guy, to explain just how the iPhone 3GS' oleophobic coating works -- molecularly -- to reduce smudges and make it super easy to wipe clean.

We don't understand a word of it, of course (something about Drow magic maybe?) but do head on over and give it a read!

[Thanks Georgia for the tip!]

MacDailyNews (via Daring Fireball) discovered that Apple has indeed given the new iPhone 3G S a small bump in screen specs. No, not OLED or pixel density, but according to their iPhone Cleaning How To:

If your iPhone has an oleophobic coating on the screen (iPhone 3G S only), simply wipe your iPhone’s screen with a soft, lint-free cloth to remove oil left by your hands and face.

Indeed - the smudge-free future is now!