3G iPhone Debut Marred By Glitches

Yes, there were lines all over the world for the 3G iPhone. But demand exceeded supply, and technical glitches prevented some users from registering their phones.

Of course the release of Apple’s 3G iPhone was a success. Everywhere it went on sale (all 21 countries) there were lines of customers eager to purchase a handset and sign up for service. But by the nature of things, it couldn’t go perfectly – and there were a few problems to put a tarnish on the polish.

First of all, demand exceeded supply. At the Apple store in Regent Street, London, police were called as the supply dwindled long before the number of customers.

Then there were the registration problems. Several countries, including the UK, Canada and the US all reported flaws in the procedure, meaning purchasers were unable to active their shiny new handsets. Network partners – some of whom had their own backup systems in place – have placed the blame on the iTunes server, while some Apple staff blamed the phone companies.

If it had just been new users, that would have been bad enough, but existing iPhones also required an update requiring users to re-register – and the flaw meant they were without service for several hours, Vnunet reports.