Having witnessed the ridiculous hype and initial demand for the iPhone here in the States, overseas iPhone carriers are going to have a hard time matching the feverish rate of US iPhone sales. But, that didn’t stop O2 (NYSE: TEF) from expecting to sell/activate upwards of 100,000 handsets during the O2 iPhone’s initial launch window.

So, how did O2 fare in their initial iPhone sales? Not as well as they would have liked, apparently. “Slow” would be one way to describe iPhone sales in the UK. The Register reports that initial iPhones sales figures have yet to break 30,000 units – with 26,500 iPhones having been activated in the two weeks since the iPhone’s launch on O2. Carphone Warehouse reported sales of 11,000 units over the launch weekend. And, an unnamed source told AppleInsider that the premier Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Store in the UK, located on Regent Street, was still working to sell the entirety of their initial iPhone stock – which was shipped to the store prior to the iPhone’s UK launch on November 9. The Regent Street Apple Store has reportedly been selling a laggardly 100 iPhone handsets per day (compare that with the LG Shine that effectively sold more than 10,000 units worldwide for every day it was on the market this past year).

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The promotional graphic might indicate otherwise, but it looks like O2 (NYSE: TEF) will be picking up the heralded HTC Kaiser as the O2 Xda Stellar. We can’t imagine how the advertising drones let the “Stella” typo slip through the cracks, but it’s still nice to see O2 finally getting with the game and offering the “holy grail” of smartphones to its subscribers – whatever its name might be.

We’re hearing that the HTC Kaiser should hit the UK as the O2 Xda Stellar sometime in December – hopefully in time for some last-minute holiday shoppers to get their hands on the WinMo6 smartphone. We just gotta wonder how many HTC Kaiser fans were waiting on O2 to pick up the handset instead of just grabbing an unlocked version straight from HTC.

Anyone out there waiting to grab an O2 Xda Stellar?

[Via: MoDaCo]

With more than 8,000 iPhones customers registering their devices on O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s network on November 9, it’s safe to say that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s UK iPhone launch went well. Now, Carphone Warehouse is reporting that they’ve pushed 11,000 iPhones out their door over the weekend. The largest mobile phone retailer in the world says that they have already sold more than one-fifth of their initial iPhone stock.

O2 also reported that 2,000 iPhones had been registered within an hour of the UK iPhone launch – with two-thirds of iPhone customers coming from other wireless networks. So, with the initial successes in the UK and European markets, we’ll just have to wait and see how iPhones sales fare over the holiday shopping season.

[Via: Mobile Today]

Remember when the iPhone launched in the States? Remember how AT&T (NYSE: T)’s activation servers buckled under the massive deluge of launch-day iPhone owners trying to get their iPhone activated? Well, it seems activation-problems have crossed the pond and are afflicting O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s iPhone activation servers. With O2 selling iPhones like it’s nobody’s business, we’re not too surprised to hear that their activation system is having trouble handling the load.

Some newly-minted iPhone owners in the UK have reported that the activation process crashes after they enter their credit-card information in the iTunes-based activation process. The problems seem to be rooted in O2’s activation servers and not from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) or iTunes. Apparently, the activation woes stem from low-credit users trying to activate their iPhone. You see, the activation system will check the user’s credit and require a £100 deposit payment if the user’s credit-score is not up to par. The activation system seems to be having trouble dealing with processing this particular payment.

We’d love to get an idea for how widespread this problem is. So, if any of you have experienced iPhone-activation problems in the UK, please drop us a line.

[Via: Macworld UK]

Following on last week’s launch of the iPhone in the UK, O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s CEO Peter Erskine told The Times Online that the iPhone is “the fastest selling device we have ever seen.” As Erskine previously mentioned, O2 has been selling tens of thousands of iPhones since last Friday’s launch – and it seems that Brits are still snatching up iPhones at an impressive pace.

We’re not looking for O2 and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) to break the US iPhone sales record, but if this kind of demand keeps up, it’s not entirely impossible. Either way, we’re sure O2 is ecstatic about these iPhone numbers. It’s just too bad they have to give some of their iPhone revenue back to Apple.

[Via: World of Apple]

The iPhone hit UK shores just a few days ago, and it seems that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s exclusive iPhone carrier, O2 (NYSE: TEF), has already sold their fair share of the iconic handset. Peter Erskine, chief executive of Telefonica (NYSE: TEF)’s 02 Europe said that the UK Carrier has pushed “tens of thousands” of iPhones out its doors since Friday’s UK iPhone launch. One report suggests that O2 activated more than 8,000 iPhone on Friday (UK launch-day) alone. In contrast, Germany’s T-Mobile sold more than 10,000 iPhones on launch day alone.

Erskine told reporters during a conference call that iPhone sales figures have been in line with expectations, but stopped short of quoting specific sales figures.

US sales figures are closing in on 1.5 million iPhones sold in less than 4 months, can the UK and Germany beat that? Maybe with France’s help. Maybe.

[Via: CNN]

Beware, dear iPhone user. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has confirmed to PocketLint that US iPhone users can expect to see an iPhone v1.1.2 update become available tomorrow, Friday, November 9 – concurrently with the European iPhone launch in the UK and Germany (on O2 and T-Mobile, respectively).

We already know that the v1.1.2 firmware will bring enhanced language support with special character keys and international keyboards. UK users can also expect support for The Cloud WiFi HotSpots. So, what’s with the ominous warning? Well, like with all previous updates, we’re expecting the iPhone v1.1.2 update to break all existing jailbreak solutions – including our favorite, one-click, jailbreakme solution.

If you don’t need any extended language support, we’d recommend against updating to this latest firmware. Jailbreakme will automatically patch the TIFF security hole (and there are patches available through Installer.app as well) so the increased security that Apple is touting with the new firmware is a moot point. Wait until Apple releases their official iPhone SDK or gives us video recording/MMS/iChat.

[Via: Mobility Today]

We love O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s penchant for completely renaming their smartphone handsets to fit their “Xda” naming scheme. Especially when they rename the already long-named HTC smartphones. O2 has announced that they’ll be launching the HTC Polaris P3650, which HTC recently renamed the HTC Touch Cruise, as the O2 Xda Orbit 2.

The O2 Xda Orbit 2 / HTC Polaris P3650 Touch Cruise will be picking up where the O2 Xda Orbit left off – which is to say that the O2 Xda Orbit 2 will be rocking some beefed up specs. With a 400Mhz Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) processor, 128 MB / 256 MB of RAM and ROM, integrated GPS, quad-band GSM, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 3 megapixel camera, and the must-have TouchFLO interface, the O2 Xda Orbit 2 is sure to please. We’re not sure if the O2 Xda Orbit 2 will be rocking a US-friendly tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100Mhz) radio or just a single-band (2100Mhz) deal – back when it was called the HTC Polaris, we saw a single-band 2100Mhz UMTS spec, but the HTC Touch Cruise sports a tri-band UMTS radio. We’ll just have to wait and see what this thing rocks (although, being an O2 device, we’re betting on single-band 2100Mhz).

The O2 Xda Orbit 2 is slated to drop in December at a €99 (about $140) price point.  You’ll get pre-installed TomTom GPS navigation software and a 1Gb microSd card. Talk about a good deal. Lucky Brits will be able to get their hands on this TouchFLO-hottie, packed to the gills with features, for less than an iPod Nano.

[Via: Unwired View]

Thanks to some interesting launch-day timings, iPhone hopefuls in Germany will get to play with their own, legit iPhones ahead of Brits. Both the UK and Germany are slated to launch the iPhone on O2 (NYSE: TEF) and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), respectively, on November 9. However, the Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) store at Schildergasse in Cologne will open its doors to iPhone sales at 12:01am CET (1:01am GMT), while O2, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), and Carphone Warehouse stores across the UK will launch the iPhone at the cleverly devised time of 6:02pm – giving the German iPhone fanbase a head-start on the iPhone.

iPhone hopefuls in the UK can expect to be limited to two iPhones per customer and will be subject to a “first come, first served” policy. Deutsche Telekom expects a healthy line to form (a “queue,” for our UK readers) and will be providing food, water, and shelter from the nightly cold.

Germans will be looking at a 399 Euro price point with a two-year contract, while Brits can expect a £269 price point with an 18-month contract that will cost £35pm. O2 hopes to sell 200,000 iPhones through the holiday shopping season, while Carphone Warehouse is looking to hock 10,000 iPhones on launch day alone.

The more I think about O2 (NYSE: TEF), the more I like it. Lately they’ve been on the spot thanks to the iPhone deal, but on the other hand they also add other cool devices to their portfolio to appeal to the wider audience.

Now they’re including RIM’s BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Pearl 8120 — the one with WiFi rather than GPS. Other specs include 2 MP camera, microSD slot, standard 3.5 mm headphone jack and of course all the glory of RIM’s push-email service. Plans start from £10 a month and you can get more details on O2’s site, or check out the release after the jump.

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