Apple’s iPhone 3G launched on July 11 and thanks to spotty cell reception it is already facing its first potential class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by Jessica Alena Smith on Tuesday, claimed that Apple’s marketing hype doesn’t reflect the slow data connection speeds and dropped calls that many iPhone 3G owners are experiencing, according to Ars Technica.

Ms. Smith’s complain alleges that the iPhone 3G is defective, and because of the number that have been sold so far she hopes the court will grant her case class-action status.

Apparently the Birmingham, Alabama, area where Ms. Smith lives and works offers strong 3G coverage from AT&T, but her iPhone 3G isn’t showing similar performance. Instead, the combination iPod and smartphone connected to the 3G network less than 25 percent of the time, her data connection was slower than expected, and she received sub-par performance from email, and SMS communication, too. The suit also claimed that Ms. Smith’s iPhone suffered from an "inordinate amount of dropped calls."

Ms. Smith claimed that "perhaps tens of thousands" of iPhone 3G owners have experienced the same problems and suffered monetary and economic injuries, and that Apple "was and continues to be unjustly enriched at the expense of Plaintiff and Class members." The suit also alleged that Apple breached its express warranty that the iPhone would "perform adequately" on AT&T’s 3G network.

Dropped calls and poor 3G performance are common issues for many iPhone 3G owners, and the recently released iPhone 2.0.2 software update was intended to address those issues -- at least in part. Apple also has an iPhone 2.1 software update in the works that apparently will address the reception issues, too.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, pre-judgement and post-judgement interest on monetary relief, attorney’s fees, and that Apple replace or repair the defective iPhone 3G units.