Business

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Nakary Hervas (right) checks her new Apple IPhone 3G as Karen Nunez looks on in Miami on Friday. Apple Inc.'s new iPhone went on sale Friday to eager buyers worldwide, many of whom lined up for hours for the morning launch.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • iPhones make expensive paper weights 7/12/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, July 12, 2008 Activation glitch tarnishes debut of latest iPhone Associated Press NEW YORK -- The launch of Apple Inc.'s much-anticipated new iPhone turned into an information-technology meltdown on Friday, as customers were unable to get their phones working. "It's such grief and aggravation," said Frederick Smalls, an insurance broker in Whitman, Mass., after spending two hours on the phone with Apple and AT&T Inc., trying to get his new iPhone to work. In stores, people waited at counters to get the phones activated, as lines built behind them. Many of the customers had already camped out for several hours in line to become among the first with the new phone, which updates the one launched a year ago by speeding up Internet access and adding a navigation chip. A spokesman for AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., said there was a global problem with Apple's iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned. Instead, employees are telling buyers to go home and perform the last step by connecting their phones to their own computers, spokesman Michael Coe said. However, the iTunes servers were equally hard to reach from home, leaving the phones unusable except for emergency calls. The problem extended to owners of the previous iPhone model. A software update released for that phone on Friday morning required the phone to be reactivated through iTunes. "It's a mess," said freelance photographer Giovanni Cipriano, who updated his first-generation iPhone only to find it unusable. Apple shares fell $4.05, or 2.3 percent, to close Friday at $172.58 amid a general decline in U.S. stocks. When the first iPhone went on sale a year ago, customers performed the whole activation procedure at home, freeing store employees to focus on sales. But the new model is subsidized by carriers, and Apple and AT&T therefore planned to activate all phones in-store to get customers on a contract. The new phone went on sale in 21 countries on Friday, creating a global burden on the iTunes servers.

1. Lake Stevens neighbors protest loss of left turn off Highway 9 2. Police look into fire at Emory's restaurant in Everett 3. Man who died from fall identified 4. Mural memorializing fallen soldier lost in effort to fix Silvana building 5. Marysville-Pilchuck comes up short in battle of unbeatens 6. 'Twilight' tourism 7. Accident near Poulsbo kills Marysville man, injures five 8. In Forks, it's always Twilight 9. Expect wintry roads at passes, dusting of snow on Snohomish County hills 10. Icy conditions lead to numerous wrecks on county roads 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Memorial for Peggy Pritchard Olson set • Bazaar Fever • Hawks proud of historic season • Olson always put Edmonds first • Honoring student veterans • ‘Wheedle' author comes to Lynnwood bookshop • Mavs build early lead en route to easy win • Prep football games of the week (state playoffs) • Tears of laughter, tears of grief • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million