Some iPhone users in Asia complained of malfunctioning alarms on the first working day of 2011, even after Apple reassured users that its phones' built-in clocks will work from Monday.

Bloggers, Facebook and Twitter users complained of missed flights and late arrival at work, as the alarm built into Apple's iPhone failed to go off for a third straight day for some users.

My iPhone alarm didn't work again, user sueannlove tweeted on the social networking site. Time to dig out (the) old school alarm clock.

The problem was not limited to the iPhone, with some owners of other Apple products, such as its iPod music players, also complaining of a similar problem with their alarms.

Apple was not immediately available for comment, but it said on January 2 that it was aware of the problem with non-recurring alarms and that the iPhone's alarm will begin functioning normally again on January 3.

The problem did not appear to be affecting recurring alarms.

The iPhone alarm system failed to recognize changes in daylight savings time in 2010, causing some users to sleep in an hour longer, according to media reports.

The last time Apple was embroiled in publicity problems was in July last year after the launch of the iPhone 4, when reports about bad reception snowballed and forced the company to call a news conference to address the issue, dubbed antennagate.

Apple sold over 14 million iPhones in its last reporting quarter ending September 25, and is now the world's No. 2 smartphone brand ranking behind global leader Nokia.

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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