Sources say that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) are planning to announce a European iPhone deal within the next couple of weeks but are working to try and iron out some kinks with the device before launch.

Vodafone -- along with T-Mobile International AG in Germany -- has already been slated as one of the European mega-carriers likely to carry the iPhone. Now a source says that a deal could be announced very soon. (See iPhone Fever Hits Europe.)

Analysts are expecting that Apple will eventually strike a number of major carrier deals in Western Europe. "We have heard Vodafone, O2, and T-Mobile," says Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney, while noting that there are still many rumors flying 'round about the device.

"Not sure if Vodafone will cut the deal that AT&T cut," Dulaney adds. "We don't think they want to give up that much control." (See iPhone Revenues Flow in Three Streams.)Another industry source says that Apple is trying to fix some bugs for Vodafone and other carriers and suspects that the carrier may announce the deal before it actually starts shipping the phone.

The source provided Unstrung with a partial list of iPhone enhancements carriers are looking for:

"Not surpising about bug fixes," notes Gartner's Ken Dulaney. "No matter what Apple says, it's a first-generation OS."Analyst Carmi Levy at AR Communications Inc. reckons Vodafone may also be looking for one further major upgrade from Apple for the iPhone toot sweet: "Vodafone has been leading the chorus of European carriers for Apple to bring a 3G-capable iPhone to market as soon as it possibly can."The carrier that lands the leading device -- iPhone -- on the fastest, most capable 3G infrastructure will score major market brownie points if AT&T’s experience in the U.S. is anything to go by. In AT&T’s case, its version of the iPhone didn’t -- and still doesn’t -- have 3G capability, but that didn’t seem to stop the masses from breaking down the carrier’s door."— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung