Thousands in line for iPhone 4S release

GlobalPost

Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, was among the many waiting outside an Apple Store in anticipation for the newly released iPhone 4s today.

"The long wait begins. I'm first in line," Wozniak tweeted as he sat in a Pico armchair, sipping Diet Dr. Pepper, reports CNN

Wozniak joins thousands of other Apple fans worldwide as they stand in line to purchase the iPhone 4S as it goes on sale at 8 a.m. local time. 

The device is the first launch since the death of CEO Steve Jobs. While critics have lambasted the product for not representing a significant upgrade compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 4, 200 people were gathered outside Apple's Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan. 

The new device features a faster processor, an upgraded camera and a new voice-activated assistant, Siri. According to Bloomberg News, Apple prepared to sell as many as 4 million units of the new iPhone 4S this weekend.

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According to the Associated Press

Emily Smith, a 27-year-old user experience designer in New York, checked in to the line on the location-centric social network Foursquare. She got a virtual Steve Jobs badge that read: "Here's to the crazy ones. ThankYouSteve."

Smith is not the only one remembering Steve Jobs while standing in line to purchase the iPhone 4s.

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"I am a fan, a big fan. I want something to remember Steve Jobs by," Haruko Shiraishi told MSNBC as he waited in line in Tokyo.  

ZDnet reports that most people in line are there for the cultural experience of bonding with other Apple fans.  The device's preorder popularity- 1 million preorders sold- means that many will await their device at home.  

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