So, how do you take a "halo" product, a feel good techno-marvel that inspires happy thoughts and turn it into something that makes the veins on your neck stick out and makes you want to pull the ears of little bunny rabbits?!?   For the answer just ask O2.  In a unrivalled display of incompetence the UK mobile operator got it wrong on a huge scale this morning as their site crashed less than 2 hours after the release of the iPhone 3G. 

Tens of thousands of people have been left disappointed as the site sold out of phones.  We've no idea how though because for hours we were unable to complete a transaction with session after session bombing out before being finalised...

O2 released their on-line ordering system for iPhone 3G less than two hours ago and already it's fallen over!  Way to go O2!!  On top of that they have alienated their existing iPhone customers by not allowing them to get the handset in-store on Friday, instead they're entered into an on-line lottery to try and get one of the first batch.  Well, they would if they could, but the upgrade store is down!  Thanks O2, great way to reward us early adopters.

I know we are all getting a bit bored with iPhone web applications while we wait for the App store to bring us native applications, but this one is pretty good.

Google have released an iPhone optimised version of their Google Chat gadget, which you can reach at www.google.com/talk.

Now it's not perfect, the main problem being that it only stays connected (and so able to receive messages) while you have safari open and on the Talk page, but this is a limitation of the safari implementation on the iPhone.

The standard version doesn't work for all you Google Apps users, but there is a way...

We've just been talking to our contact in O2 so here's the skinny on how the iPhone is going to be available on the 11th July, and the different way those with existing iPhones are going to get theirs....

Are you still carrying around a USB thumb drive as well as your iPhone?  Well DiskAid from DigiDNA is a free application for both Windows and Mac that allows you to use you iPhone or iPod Touch for file storage! Best of all it does not require you to jail-break your device.  Check it out...

It looks like the iPhone 3G is going to be a huge hit in the UK.  Whilst the total cost of ownership over the contract period is pretty similar, the reduced "Price of Entry" looks like it's going to boost sales massively...

"Consumer interest in the 3G iPhone is almost four times more than interest in its 2G predecessor, according to O2, Apple's exclusive UK network partner for the device.  More than 130,000 people have pre-registered their interest in the combined handset, digital music player and web browser on O2's website since the phone was unveiled a week ago.  Only 35,000 people pre-registered their interest in the previous phone between its unveiling on September 18 last year and November 9, when it went on sale in the UK...

As of this morning we have information that the rumour that O2 will allow the iPhone 3G to be "tethered" to a laptop via Bluetooth to be used as a modem is NOT true.

While our contact in O2 wouldn't comment directly on the rumor they did say the following - "....it's specifically in the conditions of 'unlimited usage' of data that the iPhone isn't to be used as a modem."...

Apple have posted some details on the winners of their Apple Design Awards for iPhone applications, along with the descriptions they have posted a few small images.

Twitteriffic won the best social networking application.

Twitterrific is an iPhone version of the Iconfactory’s popular desktop application of the same name and is a perfect match for iPhone’s capabilities and innovative user experience. Designed specifically for iPhone, Twitterrific provides both high and low density views suited for different usage scenarios, one-handed operation optimizable for right or left-handed users, and an attractive and polished user interface that feels at home on iPhone.

More applications and images after the break

Steve Jobs has just presented his keynote speech at Apple's WWDC08 in San Francisco.

After all the rumour and counter rumour of the last few weeks what exactly are we in store for, here is a quick run through of the highlights.