When Casey the iPhone Gave Me a Scare

Last night, I was all ready for bed and was starting to do my nightly news reading when Casey the iPhone froze on me. I was not alarmed at first because it happens, but after a long while of not responding, it suddenly died. It looked like a brick!

"Brick"

 I was naturally scared as this phone is not even 10 months old! It even has the prettiest case ever. ;)

Have you ever seen such a lovely case? I doubt you can find blackberry covers or other phone covers like that. Or maybe you can.
Anyhow, I kept pushing and holding the power button in the hopes that the phone would respond. It seemed like I was doing it forever, but nothing happened. Only after I left it alone for several minutes did it suddenly turn on again, with the home screen displayed. It did not even reboot!

I don't know what happened there, but I hope it is not an indication of anything serious. Has this happened to anyone? Is it a known issue?