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Gadget fans queue all night for new iPhone 4 - VIDEO
Hundreds of eager customers queued for hours outside stores across South Yorkshire when the iPhone 4 went on sale in the UK yesterday.
O2 stores in Sheffield and Barnsley, as well as the Apple store in Meadowhall, opened at the special time of 8.02am but saw customers queueing overnight to make sure they got their hands on the hot new gadget.
In Barnsley the queues began at 11.30pm on Wednesday. Nearly 100 people were lined up by the time the shop opened.
McDonalds workers Danny Smallman and Josh Mills, both 17, were first in line for the phone.
"The iPhones are amazing and this one has a better camera and the new Facetime application," Danny said.
"We didn't want to risk them running out so we came to the store after we finished work last night and camped out. We've been up 25 hours straight and have got to go straight to work after we're done here on no sleep!"
Josh said: "Luckily it's been good weather for sitting out all night, and it was quite warm until about 2am."
Mark Asquith and Adam Farah arrived at the Barnsley store at 6am to claim 12th and 13th place in line.
"We know for a fact there are a few people in the queue who have called in sick to work so they could be here this morning," said Adam, 27.
The O2 store in Fargate, Sheffield was equally busy.
Dan Hilton, aged 32, arrived at 7am, and found a 100 metre queue already snaking in front of him.
He said: "It's all about the hype - I just wanted to be the first one to have the new iPhone.
"I'm self-employed and I use it for work, so this is my business. It'll set me back a couple of hundred pounds, and another 80 for the contract, but it's worth it."
O2 staff were secretive about the number of phones they had in stock but confirmed that there were 'more people than phones'.
Sam Weemes, 22, began queuing in Sheffield at 6am to upgrade his existing iPhone, and made it into the store just after 9am.
He said: "I've had an iPhone before and I'd never go back to any other phone. It just does everything."
The Apple iPhone 4 launched in the UK at 7am yesterday morning at the flagship Apple store on London's Regent Street, with customers queuing 24 hours before it went on sale.
Five countries - the UK, USA, Japan, France and Germany - launched the phone yesterday, with 88 countries set to be selling it by September.
FACTFILE
• For the new iPhone4 Apple have done away with the curves and given it a squarer shape. A stainless steel band runs around the middle will act as an antenna and improve signal reception.
• The screen is said to be of "unrivalled clarity".
It has two cameras, with different viewfinders on the front and back of the handset, allowing different camera angles during video calls, and an LED flash.
• Battery life is up, allowing users to run more than one app at a time, switching between them instantly without slowing performance.
• The iPhone 4 has also been given one of its sister product the iPad's most popular features - iBooks - allowing users to take their favourite books, and a 'virtual bookstore', with them on the go.
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Latest sport. The UK, USA, Japan, France and Germany all began to sell the phone yesterday, with 88 countries set to sell it by September.
factfile
amy taylor
News Reporter
amy taylor
and nik brear
News Reporters
n For the new iPhone4 Apple have done away with the curves and given it a squarer shape. A steel band around the middle will act as an antenna and improve signal reception.
n The screen is said to be of "unrivalled clarity". It has two cameras, with different viewfinders on the front and back of the handset, allowing different camera angles during video calls.
n Battery life is up, allowing users to run more than one app at a time, switching between them without slowing performance.
Early start: People wait outside the O2 shop on Fargate yesterday morning. Picture: Barry Richardson
On call: Bharad Makkapati is pleased to get his hands on one of the new iPhones.
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