I m not sure about how long th e first charge should actually be, but i do have some pretty bad experience of damaging a battery by sticking to the common conception of "Lithium ion batteries do not need to be charged for more than a couple of hours even during its first charge cuz they have no memory"
I bought a nokia phone and charged it for only 2 hours until the batt full sign came up and iv had battery trouble ever since. I bought a replacement battery and the storekeeper instructed me to switch off the phone and let it charge for six hours straight, even after the battery full sign comes up. Did so and the battery never had trouble powering the phone for 4-5 days.
I just bought my new BB Bold 9700 and Im gonna charge it for 14 hours straight while the phone is switched off.(many forums say 14 hours is the optimum time for the BB Bold 9700's first charge)
Hope this helps!!!
