S. Fla. Buyers Line Up Early For iPhone 4S Sale
MIAMI (CBSMiami) --Apple Inc. started selling the iPhone 4S in the U.S. at 8 a.m. but at the Apple Store on South Beach, some people got in line on Thursday.
iPhone customer Brendan Brentjens was one of those customers in line.
"I got my new phone," he said.
These are the folks who are determined to get first dibs on the phones which are being sold not only at Apple stores but also at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless stores. Some Best Buy, Target and Walmart stores and authorized resellers are also carrying the phones.
Brentjens said the newer model comes with many upgrades.
"Well, it's much faster," he said. "It has Siri and a new camera. I'm really excited about that one as well."
Susan Avedikian agrees.
"It's faster, better camera…other features... we'll see," she said.
Apple says first-day pre-orders of the iPhone 4S topped 1 million, breaking the record set by last year's model.
The base model of the iPhone 4S costs $199 with a two-year contract. Customers have a choice of white or black.
The phone — Apple's fifth — has a faster processor and an improved camera compared with last year's model. It also has a "digital assistant," Siri, that responds to voice commands and talks back to phone owners, answering their questions.
iPhone customer Yaneisy Gutierrez said she's looking forward to using that feature.
"Maybe at school, it'll give me all the answers to my quiz," she said. "That would be good."
However, some customers and investors were disappointed that Apple didn't launch a more radical new model. It's been more than a year since Apple's previous model was released.
Nevertheless, Brentjens said he cannot wait to use his new phone.
" I'm going to go home and play with this, I think," he said.
(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
