New Zealand Midnight iPhone Launch and U.K. Pre Orders

[MacRumors]

Vodafone sent out an email (screenshot) announcing that the iPhone 3G will be launching in New Zealand at a 12:01 am on the morning of Friday, July 11th at three Vodafone stores (Queen St, Lambton Quay, Columbo St) nationwide. Meanwhile, New Zealand's other Vodafone stores will begin sales at 9am. Their online store will also start accepting orders at 12:01am.

A 12:01am launch means that New Zealand customers will be the first in the world to get the new iPhone 3G by a large margin. This corresponds to times of 5:01 am Pacific, 8:01 am Eastern, and 1:01 pm London time on July 10th.

Meanwhile, the U.K.'s O2 announced that they have started accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 3G today. The iPhones will be sold on a first-come first-serve basis and will be only available for individuals signing up for a contract. A PAYG option will be coming later. Those who order now will get their iPhone 3G delivered to them on July 11th and existing customers will be able to activate their new iPhones via iTunes at home.





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[captain kaos]

Another great O2 quote "PAYG at a later date"! When will O2 stop treating their customers like this?

 

[RichUK89]

Pre-orders! Hah! The website is a jam - i can't get in!!!!! GOING CRAZY!!!!!

 

[t0mat0]

Mods - is the https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5720845#post5720845 going to be rolled into this thread?

 

[MacMalv]

Wahay!!!! I Order My New Black 16gb Iphone!!!!

 

[appleguy]

Its great to be a kiwi.
expect we dont have plan pricing yet.

 

[illitrate23]

gyahh!! i got the txt about the update just as i got on the train to work this morning
literally ran from the station to the office.... and now, the upgrade website is locked solid and i can get in to place my order!!
i think i may have a case of iRage!

still - i'm surprised, i didn't think there's be so much demand from existing owners to upgrade. there's gonna be a lot of 1st gen iPhones on ebay next week

 

[tomjleeds]

Any O2 customers able to get on the upgrade site?

 

[page3]

Same here, O2 upgrades website is overloaded.

 

[Sverkel]

Telia in Denmark is also opening at that time Of course there is still the time difference

 

[RickNunn]

AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHFFFFFFFFFFPPPPPPPPP

I was waiting at 8am to order got the last stage and the mother f*cker crashed out on me! now I cant get back on!!!!!! AARRRGGGFFFPPPHHHH!!

 

[MacMalv]

Any O2 customers able to get on the upgrade site?

I feel sorry for you mate. I managed to click on the link in my email and then order my phone in about 10 minutes. My dad ordered one as well with no trouble.

 

[dwright1974]

Wahay!!!! I Order My New Black 16gb Iphone!!!!

Hi

Just been on the phone to O2 cause it's gone TITSUP!

They are saying the upgrade process won't be working until 1pm today!

Looks like you have been very lucky, (unless you have gone through the normal order process and are upgrading in which case you'll be getting two bills).

Brilliant, well done O2

Oh, and why no white option!?

- D

 

[ibjoshua]

This reminds me of NZ being the first in the world to get Windows 95. A sad day.

ibjoshua

 

[npdale]

Ordered

Just ordered my New iPhone as a 'New Customer' on the O2 website - 16GB Black iPhone listed as 'In Stock' - just waiting confirmation email - - lets see if O2 are being efficient

 

[karlstraw]

o2 - Why do I bother

Got text mesage saying please go to web site to upgrade...

1 hour later still unable to process order

Phone lines jammed when I eventually got through the operator said web only and hung up...

Beginning to think that o2 can go whistle ...

K

 

[beast]

the non upgrade option on the o2 site is semi working.... it took me about 4 goes before it gave me an order confirmation.

 

[deconstruct01]

Its ridiculous they did not expect this kind of response. I was sat at my computer when the text came in, i couldn't have clicked through those screens any faster! but still it just hung on the final screen. Lame.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Alright guys... It will be 8AM here in the US when NZ gets the 3G. Apple couldn't have possibly loaded final 2.0 software on these phones, I imagine it's a special version for 3G phones that are able to be activated, but still will require an update when users get home and connect to iTunes.

So... begin to speculate when 2.0 will land.

 

[BeyondCloister]

Any O2 customers able to get on the upgrade site?

I've only managed to get as far as requesting the upgrade code. I guess I have to wait for it to arrive before I can make the actual order.

It did take several attempts to get into the site.

It would have been nice for O2 to send the text about it before 8am instead of at 8:44 am, but still better than going to a shop on Friday.

 

[tomjleeds]

Seriously, how does this always happen? Tickets, launches, everything always screws up.

Hey O2, here's a hint: GET MORE CAPACITY ON LAUNCH DAYS

I've only managed to get as far as requesting the upgrade code. I guess I have to wait for it to arrive before I can make the actual order.

It did take several attempts to get into the site.

It would have been nice for O2 to send the text about it before 8am instead of at 8:44 am, but still better than going to a shop on Friday.

There's an upgrade code request? Eurgh, haven't seen that, just the order page (with a text input for Insurance...I mean, what the hell are you supposed to put there?). And yeah, I got mine at 08:42...not exactly perfect timing.

EDIT: Just got the code screen, and just received it.

I'm seriously considering just chancing it on Friday.

 

[macfettish]

O2

Keep plugging away! I've got an order number at my fourth attempt. Until then, kept getting a message to ring telesales.

 

[pashazade]

No White iPhones!

The O2 shop states

"iPhone 3G is only available in black."

 

[Lucas44]

i'm not sure whether to upgrade online or not. will i be able to walk into an o2 store on friday and upgrade there. what puts me off is o2 saying they will try and ship as many iphones to arrive on the 11th but they might arrive up to 2 weeks after that.

 

[anim8or]

The O2 shop states

We'll deliver as many orders as possible on 11th July and then delivery may take up to 2 weeks. We'll send you an SMS the day before delivery to let you know it's on the way.

If you order from them now and you are not one of the lucky ones to get it on the day then you have to wait two weeks to get it!!!!!!