By Natasha Lomas, 7 July 2008 16:19
NEWS
The 3G iPhone has today been made available to pre-order online from the O2 and Carphone Warehouse websites.
The smart phone device is not due to ship until 11 July but one-device-per-customer pre-orders can now be placed on the websites for delivery on that date.
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O2 said pre-ordering was available from 08:00(BST) this morning, while Carphone Warehouse had a pre-order page up at 11:00(BST). Both sites, however, have reported problems - which include prospective customers being incorrectly informed 3G iPhones are out of stock, and the sites running slower than usual.
A Carphone Warehouse spokeswoman said there had been "an issue" with its website wrongly stating all 3G iPhone models are out of stock. The retailer is not in fact out of stock of any of the 3G models, she said. Carphone Warehouse's website saw a 46 per cent increase in traffic after 11:00(BST), she added.
Meanwhile O2's site currently reports the operator is out of stock of iPhones, yet an O2 spokeswoman said she believes the 8GB version is still available. "The website is up and running. But it's a bit slow," she added.
A statement for prospective customers on O2's website reads: "Orders will be processed on a first come, first served basis. Your order may be delayed if we have stock shortages or if your order requires further security validation. Certain remote postcodes will require an additional day for delivery."
The spokeswoman said O2 had "roughly split its stock in half" - between its online stores and retail stores. There has been "unprecedented demand" for the 3G iPhone, she added.
Comments
There are 7 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Why are you running so many stories about this device, it doesn't do much (anything?) a decent Nokia doesn't do, and is as yet unproven. Move on!
2. Jack Winogrodzki
I am sure there are plenty of 3G iphones in stock. All this is PR hype. Meanwhile Steve Jobs has a 3G II in his pocket with ichat and 5 megapixel camera. How much more will that be when it comes out in 6 months time.
3. anonymous
I tried several times to upgrade online. After running slowly the site stopped responding at all. I managed finally to get as far as selecting the model and tariff that I wanted and providing my credit card details. At that point the site fell over again leaving me unsure whether I have a device or not. I called O2 and was told that all (yes, all) their systems were being upgraded and I'd need to call tomorrow. Clearly nonsense. Not good, O2 !
4. Karen Challinor
would this be a bad time to mention that my two year old pda/phone already has 3G and a touch screen and bluetooth and wifi and web surfing and a camera and .... well the only thing it doesn't do that the iphone does is tilt the screen if I turn the phone on its side but I can live without that as touching an on screen button will tilt the screen
oh and I have a full keyboard as well so I don't have to type on an on screen keyboard if I don't want to, or I could write with the stylus and let the character recognition do it's job and a sound system and I can plug SD cards in and make phone calls or video calls....
HTC Ultimate is the model, I think it's discontinued as they made a better one, but it's fine for me
it's a very nice phone, I've never seen an advert for it though, probably because it's not made by apple
5. anonymous
I received a text from O2 saying the 3g iphone was available as I'd pre-ordered, but going to the website it says it's out of stock. Via another route you can get to the ordering page, but this then leads you back to the "out of stock" message. Both tell customers to come back on 10th July.
6. Chris S
The upgrade page on their website was down every time I checked over the course of yesterday.
The O2 shops are saying the new 3G phones are still available for customers who pre-registered, but if you call 'customer support', you will find this is not the case.
7. Dixon Jones
I can tell you that the O2 site is definitely NOT working for me. I pressed the button yesterday at 8:24 to order... and the site crashed. I tried three more tomes during the day on two computers with two different brwosers. Eventually I got loads of encrypted garbage on what was supposed to be the page after I entered my card details... Not that they should have NEEDED my card details, because of course I have to already be a customer to "enjoy" the upgrade.
Grrrr.