Since I received my new iPhone 3G, I’ve been wondering why Apple didn’t add an option for text message delivery reports to the iPhone 3G software (SMS delivery reports). Sometimes when you send a text message you just want to know that its been delivered properly! I used to have delivery receipts turned on permanently on my Nokias and was disappointed when I found I couldn’t turn on delivery reports with my first iPhone (running on vodafone).

Now that I have switched to O2 I’ve discovered that there is a way to get delivery reports for individual text messages! Although this isn’t the blanket solution (built in option) that I’d hoped for it is still useful when you want to confirm that someone has received your text message.

To request an SMS delivery report in the UK (O2) simply add *0# to the beginning of the text message and continue the message as normal. When the SMS is received a delivery report (delivery receipt) will appear as another iChat bubble on your iPhone; below your original message (you get a text message back).

SMS delivery report codes are different for each mobile network and each country. Some mobile networks do not offer SMS delivery report codes. These codes will work on other phones as well as iPhones. Here are some codes for other networks. You need to type the code before your text message, and its probably best to leave a space as some providers require this. They are also case sensitive:

UK Mobile Networks
O2 prefix *0#
Orange prefix RCT
T Mobile prefix *0#
Orange prefox RCT
Vodafone – No code exists for Vodafone
Virgin prefix *0#

US Cell Networks
T–Mobile prefix *noti#

If you have other codes, please post them in the comments and I will add them. Thanks!

Procuring an iPhone 3G on launch day is absolutely as hard as you might imagine. It’s been a rollercoaster of a week, an experiment to see what people will go through to get their technology fix. I was lucky, but many weren’t.

“ Monday July 7th, 8am. New email; O2 now accepting preorders. 8:34am my order is placed, I have a confirmation email. iPhone 3G will be delivered on Friday before 10am.” …was that too easy?…..

Monday

O2’s website worked flawlessly when I used it, but for many it just collapsed. Users were left wondering whether their order had gone through, and were pulling their hair out. By the afternoon the website was closed to pre-orders. iPhone 3G sold out.

Tuesday & Wednesday
Tuesday and Wednesday saw fever pitch speculation over on the O2 forums. Many users had orders in-progress, some [seemingly] failed orders were suddenly appearing, and others were having orders randomly cancelled. We weren’t happy lambs.

The mood was lifted when orders started to change from “in-progress“ to “complete”. I had a sudden addiction to the O2’s order status page and the refresh button.

Thursday
By Thursday we were flapping, many orders were still “in-progress”. Speculation was growing. Why hadn’t our order status changed? did O2 actually have enough stock to fulfill it’s preorders?

I spoke to O2 customer services on three separate occasions during the week and their staff were always polite and helpful. They reassured me the iPhone would arrive on launch day and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

By 5pm on Thursday it was clear it wasn’t going to happen. A final call to O2 confirmed it; they couldn’t fulfill my order and weren’t sure when they would be able to. Their website was talking about availability “by the end of the summer”.

Carphone Warehouse To The Rescue: At 5:15pm I phoned Carphone warehouse and explained my plight. It was a long shot. Their reply? “No Problem”, they would have an iPhone 3G delivered tomorrow …… and do you know what?…… They weren’t joking. I placed an order at 5:15pm on Thursday and received it at 8:30am Friday.

Thoughts
It’s been a difficult week for O2. Nobody is entirely clear how many preorders they took, but there were a lot. Many have criticised O2 for raising expectations and dashing them. It was always going to be hard for O2 to cope, but IMHO their order system should have been capped. They should only have accepted pre-orders for phones they could deliver. But could anyone really have coped with the insatiable demand? probably not.

“Was the iPhone 3G worth it?” don’t ask silly questions!

UPDATE: I’m disappointed to hear that my Carphone Warehouse order may have been fulfilled at the expense of other CPW users who ordered on Monday! in the same way that my 8:30am order with O2 on Monday was passed over for later orders placed at 1PM. Come on guys its not that difficult!

When my new Siemens KG39NA90GB Fridge Freezer arrived on Thursday morning, it would be fair to say I was more that a little impressed. Aesthetically its a stainless steel marvel, and in terms of engineering? well it had to be fantastic….its German for goodness sake.

Unfortunately my excitement was short-lived. After waiting 24 hours for the gasses to settle I finally turned her on last night. For the first 20 minutes all was fine, she was making a quiet humming noise….
…… Then she got angry and started making this noise. If you listen to the complete track the silence in the middle is when I open the fridge door. Now I’m not a fridge engineer, but I’ve got a fairly good idea that this isn’t right - especially when you’ve spent £900. Whatever happened to quality checks?

I phoned John Lewis this morning and they have arranged for an Engineer from Siemens Bosch to call out on Monday. The guys over at the UK White Goods Forums think its sounds like the evaporator fan may have been dislodged during transit or it is hitting some insulation.

UPDATE: It was the evaporator fan, it just needed reseating. The engineer from Siemens Bosch was very helpful and fixed it in 5 minutes. Its be fine since!