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If you hadn’t heard, hundreds of people were turned away from Apple Stores last night, iPhone 3G-less. However, being gluttons for punishment — and having nothing to do over the weekend — they’ve returned in droves to Apple Stores, with reports of lines longer than 200 people stretching out from The Cube, Apple Store Chicago (pictured) and even a store in Durham, NC. Apple offered up vouchers last night, at least at some stores, to anyone still waiting in line, so those folks can show up whenever and jump the line for a phone — about 30 of them are lined up at The Cube currently. If you don’t mind you can let us know in tips what the current status on the line / stock is at your local Apple or AT&T store is, and we’ll try to keep track of this mayhem through the weekend. Good luck out there!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this stuff in]

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Source: Paul Miller

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Filed under: Cellphones

This’ll come as no surprise to those of you that’ve been following our worldwide line / stock watch, but with lines hitting six hours long, Apple’s started capping them so that stores can close and prepare for tomorrow. Reports of line capping are coming mostly from larger stores in the East Coast and Midwest, but the Glendale Apple store in California is reportedly capped as well. Interestingly, while carrier stores worldwide have all sold out, we’ve heard that most Apple stores have had more than enough inventory — one tipster reported that delivery trucks were being used to store overflow, since the main stock rooms were full at his local store — so we’re guessing the lines have more to do with the slowness of the activation process catching Apple off-guard. It certainly wasn’t smooth sailing today, but eventually things started working, and it seems like anger’s turned to love for a lot of folks. And isn’t that the basis of every good relationship? Oh, right. So who’s going to get up and do this all again with us tomorrow?

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Source: Nilay Patel

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Filed under: Cellphones

We know there are people lined up all over the world for the iPhone 3G — so if you’re among the intrepid souls out there waiting to get yours, send in your photos (and stories) for our international launch lineblog. Just hit us up at iphone@engadget.com.

10:32AM ET: Indeed, depending on what employee you talk to, in-store activation via iTunes is either “slow” or “down” — but either way, they’re handing you the phone unactivated, which needs to be completed by connecting to iTunes from the comfort of your home. Beware: if you’re upgrading, your old SIM will be immediately bricked, so you’ll be phoneless until you complete the activation!

10:21AM ET: We’re hearing that Apple’s activation servers are having intermittent problems, with lines coming to halt at both Apple and AT&T stores, and that some carrier stores worldwide are sending people home because they can’t activate phones. Stranger still, some people are being told that they can “activate at home using iTunes.” We’re getting more info as fast as we can, we’ll let you know.

9:42AM CT: Things are wild in Chicago as well — at least 500 strong at the Apple flagship on Michigan Avenue, 100 at the AT&T flagship on State, and at least 200 at the AT&T store on Chicago. Austin and Andy here started waiting at 3PM yesterday, through some major rain — that’s nerd dedication.

Keep going past the break for updates from Chicago, NYC, the rest of the US, and all the other international mayhem. Also, be sure to hit us up with your own pictures and experiences at the email address above!Continue reading iPhone 3G international launch lineblog

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Source: Ryan Block

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