DHAKA: It is the Apple of many a gearhead's eye, but people are going to extraordinary lengths to snag the latest iPhone in ... where else? the Big Apple.
Some 10 days before its purported release, a queue began to be formed in the city that never sleeps to grab the first retail sale of iPhone 6, report different media.
They say that half dozen loyalists, publicists, rent-a-place professional que-bodies have already lined up in front of the Apple store, attracting the attention of TV crews, tourists, and tech-troopers too busy to line up but awaiting first look at the gizmo.
However, Apple has only announced it will be hosting a "special event" on September 9 without specifying details, but the general assumption is it will be releasing the next-generation iPhone 6, and possibly one or two other gadgets and apps, including iWatch and iWallet. The Apple website features a countdown to the date with a teaser that reads, "Wish We Could Say More."
Even if Apple were to release iPhone 6 on Tuesday, it will be at least a week more before the gadget becomes available in retail stores.
The Mirror says that shares in Apple have taken a battering after the celebrity photo hacking scandal which comes just days before the launch of its new iPhone.
The technology giant saw its share price slump by 4% - its worst drop since January - after photos of celebrities stored in iCloud accounts were leaked online.
But it doesn't seem to have dampened enthusiasm for the new iPhone 6, with fans already queueing outside Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York.
Not that it fazes cousins Joseph Cruz and Brian Ceballo, who are professional iPhone que-ists. They have waited in line for the new version of iPhone for the last five years; this time they turned up last Sunday, ten days before the Apple event, and at least two, possibly three weeks before a retail release, reports the Times of India.
Their report said that it's become a regular line of work after they discovered companies that were willing to sponsor them and pay them to advertise their product. This time their sponsors are BuyBackWorld, a NYC store that specializes in trade-ins of Apple products.
Things got even better for the cousins during the week when their first and second place in the queue was "bought" by the husband and wife team of Jason and Moon Ray, who arrived from Jackson, Mississippi on Monday, a day after the cousins beat them to the top of the queue.
BDST: 2026 HRS, SEP 07, 2014
