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New iPhone cometh

Customers line up to pay tribute to the man behind the gadget.

Valeska Pan, Michael Chen, Yujie Guo, Nancy Zhao, Zihao Li, Pangyan Zhang (cq) rushed to the Apple Store for the release of the IPhone 4Gs located on Walnut and 16th. They made the purchase on the newest IPhone because, "We like new stuff and plus its faster than the previous model." (Ashlee Espinal / Staff Photographer)
Valeska Pan, Michael Chen, Yujie Guo, Nancy Zhao, Zihao Li, Pangyan Zhang (cq) rushed to the Apple Store for the release of the IPhone 4Gs located on Walnut and 16th. They made the purchase on the newest IPhone because, "We like new stuff and plus its faster than the previous model." (Ashlee Espinal / Staff Photographer)Read more
    by By Chip Cutter, Associated Press, Inquirer
    Published 

NEW YORK - It wasn't just the latest iPhone that drew people to Apple stores Friday.

Many consumers waited in lines for hours - sometimes enduring chilly temperatures and overnight thunderstorms - to remember Steve Jobs, Apple's visionary who died last week.

The company's first iPhone release since Jobs' death turned into another tribute. Some customers even joked that the new model 4S stood "for Steve."

Tony Medina, a student from Manhattan, stood outside Apple's flagship store on New York's Fifth Avenue for nine hours, waiting through rain. He had originally planned to order the phone online but decided to join a crowd of about 200 people to honor Jobs.

"For loyalty, I felt I had to do the line," he said. "I had to say thank you."

The phone, which went on sale Friday in seven countries, is faster than the previous model and comes with better software and an improved camera. Yet the unveiling comes at a time when Apple is finding it difficult to maintain the excitement of previous iPhone introductions.

For starters, the phone is more widely available than in the past. In addition to Apple stores, it's also sold by three wireless carriers: AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless. Some Best Buy, Target and Walmart stores also carry the phones, as do authorized resellers.

Buyers also were able to preorder the phone on Apple's website and have it shipped to their homes or offices.

Moreover, many investors and diehard Apple fans were disappointed that Apple did not launch a more radically redesigned new model - an iPhone 5. It's been more than a year since Apple's previous model was released.

That also may have contributed to smaller gatherings at some Apple locations.

"People are not as excited about this version as they might have been" if an iPhone 5 came out," said Charles Prosser, a retired teacher and computer technician from Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Even so, hundreds of buyers camped out in front of stores for hours to be among the first to get an iPhone 4S.

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

The base model of the iPhone 4S costs $199 in the United States with a two-year service contract. It comes with 16 gigabytes of storage. Customers can get 32 gigabytes for $299 and 64 gigabytes for $399.