Apple Inc's iPhone already has people lining up at two Apple stores in New York, four days before the device is scheduled to be released.
David Clayman from Chicago got to Apple's Fifth Avenue store two days ago to take the third spot in line. He'll either donate the phone to charity or give it to his father.
Jessica Rodriguez, who arrived Tuesday morning to take the next spot, plans to give the iPhone to her sister as a birthday present. She'll also buy one for herself if she can.
PHOTO: AFP
Apple CEO Steve Jobs plans to release the iPhone tomorrow at 6pm in each US time zone. The device combines an iPod media player with a phone that can browse the Web. Apple aims to sell 10 million iPhones next year, to take 1 percent of the market.
"When you think of Apple, Steve Jobs puts 110 trillion percent into everything," said Rodriguez, a 24-year-old from the Bronx, standing alongside five others.
"He's a great innovator. By the time everyone else figures it out, he already has it done," she said.
Johnny Vulcan started the line outside Apple's store in Manhattan's SoHo district at 7am yesterday. He's trying to raise awareness for Keep a Child Alive, a charity that treats children with AIDS in Africa. The group plans to auction the device on EBay and said one of its celebrity ambassadors will hand-deliver it to the winning bidder.
Apple will sell the iPhone at 162 stores. The company said on Tuesday that it would close the doors at 2pm tomorrow to prepare for the debut and then reopen four hours later.
AT&T, which will offer the gadget at 1,800 company-owned outlets, said its stores will be closed for 90 minutes before the iPhone goes on sale.
The iPhone will come in two versions -- US$499, 4-gigabyte model and a US$599, 8-gigabyte version. Both require a two-year service plan with AT&T Inc.
San Antonio, Texas-based AT&T said on Tuesday that plans would cost about US$60 to US$220 a month.
"I'll probably get the world's worst sunburn," said Eric Mueller, a graphic designer from Harlem who was fifth in line at the Fifth Avenue store, the only Apple outlet that's open 24 hours a day.
"But it's exciting to be part of it," he said.
For others, it's about earning some extra cash. John May, a college student in Vallejo, California, has offered to stand in line for US$250 for a potential iPhone buyer. He will wait at an Apple store in Vallejo or Walnut Creek.
Although no one has responded to his Internet ad, the 18-year-old May said he would still join the line for latecomers.
"It seems like an easy way to make cash," said May, whose father gave him the idea. "It's crazy."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique