Unlike the original iPhone, which features a metal back, the back of the new 3G iPhone is either ceramic or plastic. (Apple has not disclosed what it is made of; many people have speculated that it is plastic, while others believe it’s a stronger type of ceramic material.) Whatever the case is made of, it’s apparently prone to damage. Some iPhone 3G owners are noticing cracks appearing in the cases of their phones–which are less than a month old.

The iPhone 3G is available in white and black; most of the reports of cracking are from owners of white phones. Some users have noted cracks in black phones, though, leading some to speculate that the cracks are simply harder to see in the black plastic. The cracks range from very small, hairline fractures on the sides and tops of the phones to more noticeable splits along the back.

Posters on Apple’s support forums have indicated that the company is replacing damaged phones. Check your phone carefully–and handle it the same way.

There’s been a lot of random misinformation about the iPhone 3G floating around out there, like David Pogue’s baffling comment that the device’s GPS antenna is “too small” to support turn-by-turn directions, and Apple’s iPod and iPhone marketing head Greg Joswiak recently sat down with AppScout to clear up some of the confusion.

Greg says that Apple has an internal priority list of features for the iPhone, and that the company went as far down the list with the 3G as it could — and that copy / paste support simply didn’t make the cut. Similarly, there are no technical issues preventing turn-by-turn directions, just other “complicated issues” (read: legal agreements) that need to be sorted out, and Josiwak expects developers to “amaze us.” as things “evolve.” Hopefully that means that nav app TomTom’s got in the labs will evolve its way into the wild sometime soon. Finally, Joswiak said that he’s not aware of any technical reasons an office suite isn’t already in the App Store, but that the lack of a cross-application file structure could impede development. Yeah, and maybe the lack of copy / paste, you think?

Nokia today stepped up its defence of the mobile market, launching a new range of handsets and an online music store in an attempt to counter the threat posed by Apple’s iPhone. The Nokia Music Store will be accessible through a new mobile internet portal dubbed Ovi and will compete head-on with Apple’s iTunes, the dominant force in online music. Nokia’s new online platform, which will also offer games and mobile mapping tools, is expected to launch in the UK in the autumn.

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The New Jersey teen who hacked the iPhone is going to get his wish – well, at least one of them.

George Hotz, who last week found a way to manipulate Apple’s new cell phone so that it will work on other networks besides AT&T’s, is trading one of the two phones he hacked for a new car. And, as Hotz would put it, it’s a “sweet” one at that, a new Nissan 350Z.

“This has been a great end to a great summer,” Hotz wrote on his blog.

The teen said he is trading the iPhone to Terry Daidone, co-founder of CertiCell, a Louisville, Ky.-based mobile phone repair company. In exchange, Daidone is going to buy him the car and will give him three brand new iPhones, which Hotz plans to hand out to members of his informal team that helped crack the iPhone.

As part of the deal, Hotz will have a paid consulting job for CertiCell. He plans to visit the company’s Kentucky offices later this week to demonstrate his iPhone hack in person.

Daidone and other CertiCell officials did not return calls seeking comment, but the company’s Web site confirmed the consulting deal.

Hotz initially tried to sell the iPhone on eBay, but said he ended the auction after it received multiple bogus bids.

Instead, he solicited a deal through his blog, which is how he hooked up with Daidone. Now he’s eagerly awaiting his new car.

“I have it in writing,” he said. “It’s all signed and good.”