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PHILADELPHIA - PEOPLE cheered as Apple stores across the United States threw open their doors on Friday to let people snap up the long-awaited iPhone.
'It is the best new thing that has come along in a long time. It is beautiful,' retiree Len Edgerly said in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The gadget melds a phone, Web browser and media player in one. Among its innovative features is a touch-screen keypad instead of the typical cellphone keypad.
Technology gurus have praised it as a 'breakthrough' device, but question whether users will be unhappy with shortcomings such as the lack of a hardware keyboard and pokey Internet link. But such issues were brushed off by buyers yesterday.
'The phones out there are just garbage. I have gone through several phones, even the expensive ones. This is different,' said Mr Albert Livingstone of Chicago. 'It is the newest toy. I am 62 - I do not have much time left to buy toys.'
In New York's SoHo neighbourhood, fans counted down the minutes and then the seconds until opening time, and those lucky people who were first in line at big cities across the country were thronged by the media and admirers as they emerged to show off their purchases.
Across the country, many had queued for days to get their hands on the gadget, which costs US$500 (S$766) to US$600, depending on memory size.
'I am glad it is over,' Mr Carlos Sanchez, 19, said at Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York City, clutching shopping bags containing two iPhones - the maximum allowed per person. 'I do not have to sleep outside anymore.'
In Newton, Massachusetts, Mr Khu Duong, 30, said he was excited but 'afraid to open it. You want to sit down and relax'.
In Seattle, videographer Paul Clark had his iPhone up and running in short order right outside the Apple store.
He installed the required new version of iTunes, hooked up the cellphone to his Macbook, synchronized his phone contacts and calendar, and was soon off taking calls from clients, putting them on hold, checking his calendar, phoning his wife and responding to e-mail.
Scared about dropping the phone, Mr Clark then darted back into the store to purchase a protective skin.
Some early buyers aimed to make a profit on the iPhone by selling it or getting paid to wait in queue. A tourist even offered US$200 to cut queue.
The iPhone is due to debut in Europe in late 2007 and Asia in 2008.
Reuters, AFP, AP
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