[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] The_Victim:
Could these failures be from power spikes?

The one thing that all of these problems have in common is a problem with power delivery to the phone beyond the battery. I would like to put forth that this might be a result of spike in power to the phone. I don't believe anyone has mentioned this possibility and I think it should be considered.

Although it may sound trivial, a static discharge to the USB connector could easily cause these problems. However, a much more likely cause is “dirty” power delivery to the AC adapter. AC power can have huge fluctuations called spikes and sags. If you plugged your AC adapter directly into wall outlets it is just a matter of time before you fry your phone.

So you have a surge protector? Did you know that typical surge protectors allow a fair amount of power to surge before they trip? This is because if they were any more sensitive they would be tripping all the time. This "pre-trip" surge is enough to fry some phones. (If this is the case, you might want to check if your surge protector came with a protection guaranty. You might be able to prove that the surge protection did not work and get reimbursed for damages to your phone.)

So you charge your phone from your computer or powered USB hub? If a power surge hits your computer or hub it can pass right through fry your phone. Consider that the computer's 200, 300 or even 500-watt power supply would not even flinch at the power it would take to fry the much smaller power supply in your phone. Even a powered USB hub has a much larger power supply than your phone. In this case your phone would go bad but your computer and hub would keep on working.

So what do you do? Add a line conditioner or uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Simply put, line conditioner is a much more sophisticated surge protector more sensitive to changes in alternating current. Line conditioners are built into many UPS devices. In addition to surge protection and conditioning a UPS can also boost power when it sags or provide power for a period of time when there is a complete power loss. The drawback is that UPS batteries must be replaced every 3-5 years.

I believe that a good line conditioner is all you need for a big wide screen TV and other entertainment components that draw a lot of power. However, sensitive devices with smaller power supplies need a UPS. Sophisticated cell phones, firewalls, routers and modems are all candidates for UPS protection. This is because a power sag can cause the devices to partially fail. Only a restart will get everything running again. Have you ever wondered why the first thing Internet tech support has you do is restart your router/modem?

I have figured out that a person should invest around 10% the cost of a electronic device to protect it. I came to this after researching the need and making the following purchases: A $300 UPS for my $3200 server. A $150 line conditioner for my $1500 television. A $50 UPS for my $500 phone. (It is important to note that since I charge my phone from a powered USB hub and connect it to my notebook to synchronize I must protect both the hub and the notebook. Either of them could send a spike to the phone. Thankfully, UPS devices usually have several protected outlets so I was able plug the hub and notebook into the same UPS.)

IMHO: If you don't already have a UPS on your sensitive electronic toys, get one! Please don't take static discharge lightly. Cold weather, carpets, leather shoes and chairs can produce powerful static discharges. If you don't follow these precautions you are in for some "mysterious" problems and unexpected failures.

BTW: This is not speculation. Over the last 8 years I have seen fried network adapters, computers, cell phones, printers, switches, etc. Either they light up red/amber or they don't light up a all. When this happens you must replace the device's power supply or the entire device. American Power Conversion has a lot of information on power protection at www.apc.com.

This is the first time I have given back to this forum and I sincerely hope it is helpful to someone.

Thank you to everyone at xda-developers!