Dead iphone 4 Not sure what to do.

Put my iphone 4 on the charger last night and woke up to see a dead phone. Took it off the charger. Tried pushing a lot of buttons and nothing worked. Put it back on the charger and the nice little apple appeared. Then my slide lock and security pad came up with a badge that said reactivation needed. punched in my code and it said connect to itunes. So i got on to my computer and turned it on, connected the phone to my computer, and the itunes icon didn't do its little dance. I clicked on to the icon and my phone didn't even register on to the itunes....... I think I am going to have to go to the apple service route. Nothing seems to work. Tried some of the suggestions posted, short of pulling off the back and onscrewing the battery and then screwing it back in like someone suggsted and still nothing. Does anybody have any other suggestions that actually work? Yes, I have the apple protection but the nearest apple store to me is 2 1/2 hours away.........