There is a so much demand for Apple's hottest new product, the iPhone 3G, which goes on sale this Friday, that Web sites taking pre-orders of the highly coveted portable device can't handle the amount of traffic. Yesterday O2, an online network selling the iPhone 3G in the UK, crashed within an hour of opening its site to pre-sale orders, according to Times Online.

The article reports that about 200,000 people registered with O2 their interest in the iPhone 3G, but the site still could not manage the number of pre-orders this morning (the service, however, refused to release this number).

The new iPhone 3G incorporates all of the same features of the original iPhone--a phone, Web browser, and music and video player--but "adds 3G networking, built-in GPS, and iPhone 2.0 software that supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs hundreds of third party applications built with the iPhone SDK," according to a Apple.com. The device will be sold in 22 countries on Friday, July 11 and will be sold in two different formats. The 8G model will sell for $129 USD and the 16G model is priced at $299 USD.