BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Because of the failure of Apple's in-home activation strategy, many iPhone owners haveto stop using the new phone they have waited for a long time, according to media reports Monday.

Existing AT&T customers transferring their cell phone numbers were affected, as were people porting their numbers from competitors such as Verizon and T-Mobile. In many cases, users found that their old number had been deactivated, leaving them without a cell phone as they waited for iPhone activation to kick in.

Unfortunately, prior to activation, new customers are unable to use any iPhone functions -- including the iPod -- until the process is complete as the iPhone continues to display the "Activate iPhone... Connect to iTunes" message.

AT&T Inc. the Apple Inc. device's exclusive carrier, said that the situation had been improved after they received complains from customers. "We are working on any issues on an individual basis with customers who were impacted," said Michael Coe, a spokesman for AT&T.

AT&T attributed the problems to overloaded servers as large number of customers tried to activate their phones over the weekend. After being hit with the initial onslaught, AT&T made technical adjustments to its activation system so that new users wouldn't face the same delays, Coe said.

Angry users, however, were not ready to quickly forget, or forgive, AT&T-- or by association, Apple -- for the problems. "A completely avoidable, yet completely predictable failure on the part of both the AT&T/Cingular and Apple IT staff, as well as the iPhone product team," lamented user Roland Dobbins on the Apple support forum in a long message listing several reasons for the mess.

(Agencies)

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LOS ANGELES, June 29 (Xinhua) -- While eager buyers were lining up across the United States Friday to buy Apple's highly anticipated iPhone, the computer giant's first wireless phone device faces wild expectations as well as competitions.

As the remarkable pre-sale buildup for Apple's latest gadget nears its end, major wireless carriers are figuring out their strategies to compete with AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive service provider in the country. Full story

iPhone goes on sale in U.S. Friday

BEIJING, Jun 26 （xinhuanet) -- Apple Inc.'s iPhone will go on sale Friday evening in U.S. stores, priced at 499 and 599dollars for the 4GB and 8GB models respectively, according to medai reports Tuesday.

It is expected to make its debut in Europe later this year and in Asia in 2008.