14 DAY TRIAL // That didn't take long. Only a few hours after it made the iPhone 4 available for pre-order on its website, Verizon Wireless announced that it was no longer accepting reservations for the device.
The pre-orders were halted at 8:00PM EST on Thursday. Both Apple and Verizon made the change on their respective websites.
“We are no longer taking pre-sale orders. Experience yours when it's available online and in stores,” one can read on the carrier's website. The handset can be seen on Apple's website here.
At the same time, the wireless carrier informed users that the Apple iPhone will be put on sale online on 02.09.11 at 3:01 AM EST, and that the device would hit stores on 02.10.11 at 7:00 AM local time.
Unfortunately, no explanation for this was offered, and no info on whether the pre-orders were sold out emerged until now, although the initial pre-order link for the device reads "OutofStock/sorry."
However, both Apple and Verizon stated previously that inventory would be limited, which suggests that they stopped pre-sales to ensure they have enough units available at launch. No details on the number of devices sold were unveiled.
Those who already managed to place a pre-order for the device would be happy to learn that the carrier is set to start shipping their units as soon as possible.
According to some of the latest reports around the web, there are great chances that the first units would arrive in users' hands as soon as today, most probably in the afternoon.
Nothing was confirmed officially on this until now, but, based on the hype the Verizon iPhone 4 enjoyed, it should not come as a surprise if the carrier indeed makes the move.
The Verizon iPhone was one of the most anticipated devices of the year, that's for sure. In less than a week from now, the device is to become available for purchase via Big Red, both for existing customers and for users new to the carrier.
For those out of the loop, we should note that there will be two iPhone 4 models available at Verizon, a 16GB one priced at $199.99 on contract, and a 32GB variant that would cost $299.99 with a contract agreement.