iPhone Alarm Hit With 1-1-11 BugiPhone Alarm Hit With 1-1-11 Bug

iPhone users who were counting on the device's alarm to keep them from missing New Year's Day appointments got a rude unawakening—a software glitch caused the alarm to fail on the first and second days of January.

A range of individuals, from everyday users to media personalities, were affected by the problem.

"My iPhone alarm didn't ring this morning," said NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, in a New Year's post on Twitter. "Apparently there's a 1/1/11 glitch." The failure was limited to iPhone alarms that were set for one-time only activation and appeared to mostly affect the iPhone 4, according to reports.

Apple, as is customary for its tight-lipped PR unit, did not immediately acknowledge the bug or respond to media inquiries about the problem.

Despite the billions of dollars it spends on research and development, and the fact that it supposedly only hires top talent, the company has had a history of failing to anticipate routine chronological events that can impact the functioning of clock-driven programs.

Earlier this year, many iPhone users were late for school, work, or appointments when their alarms failed to activate following the switchover to daylight-saving time.

Such problems recall fears of the Y2K Bug, a programming lapse that many IT experts feared would cause computerized systems that rely on internal clocks to fail on January 1, 2000, impacting everything from electronic coffee makers to air traffic control systems. Remediation efforts, however, minimized the Y2K Bug's impact.

Apple's timekeeping problems have done little to bring down its high-flying stock. ISI Group on Monday raised its target price for Apple shares to $400.