iPhone in recovery mode and won't turn on after sync--error 28 HELP!

I have an iPhone 4 and it has been working great. Yesterday I needed to update some apps but I was out of storage so I plugged it into my computer (MacBook) to sync it through that. It all synced fine and all of the sudden the phone turned off and I couldn't turn it on. Then iTunes said that it detected a phone in recovery mode and it needed to be restored. I clicked OK and Restore. After about a minute of verifying with Apple and other things I get a message saying that it couldn't be restored and it gave me error 28.

I looked on countless forums and called Apple. I was told to turn off any antivirus software that perhaps wasn't allowing my phone to connect. I don't have any on my MacBook so I just turned the firewall off. Still, it didn't work. I tried on my husband's MacBook Pro and that didn't work. I also tried on my friend's MacBook Pro, and nothing. Last I tried on my work iMac and that didn't work. All of the computers have the latest OS (Mountain Lion) and all of the necessary updates.

Right now my phone is completely off, at least the screen is, and it's unresponsive. It was fully charged yesterday when all this happened. I tried using programs like TinyUmbrella to get of out of recover mode but it says the phone is not responding.

I was told by Apple that it is likely a hardware issue and I need a new phone ($149). I'm trying to find any possible solution to bring my phone back to life so if you have any suggestions, I'll take them! If I have to get a new phone, I will just wait until the iPhone 5, but I would love to be able to use my current phone or even sell it...HELP!