London Launch of iPhone 3G Marred by Software Problems

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Software problems marred the launch of the iPhone 3G at Apple's flagship store in London, where customers had difficulty activating their new phones.

Apple has an exclusive deal with network operator O2 in the U.K. -- but O2's web-based activation system requires the use of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser to register a new phone: It won't work with the Safari browser bundled in Apple's Mac OS X.

In its Regent Street store, Apple had installed VMware Fusion desktop virtualization software on some of its Macintosh computers, allowing them to run Internet Explorer on Windows, but the activation process was still not working.

"It just goes dead," said would-be customer Mark Phipps, who left the store frustrated and without an iPhone 3G.

The problem, though, was not with the browser: It was in O2's back-end systems, initially overwhelmed by the demand. Customers using PCs at O2's own store on Oxford Street had problems accessing the activation servers too.

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