iPhone hype heightens

In the midst of rising publicity and anticipation which continue to mount around Apple's forthcoming iPhone launch, one individual who holds the third place in line at the company's flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York has promised to auction off one of the two iPhones he plans to purchase in an effort to support the Taproot Foundation. This is the second documented case of persons standing in line at an Apple store days ahead of the planned June 29th launch in an effort to attract both publicity as well as funds for a dedicated cause. Yesterday Keep a Child Alive announced that it holds the first place in line to receive an iPhone at Apple's SoHo retail store in New York, and that the organization plans to auction off the first iPhone purchased from that store on eBay to prevent the death of children infected with AIDS in Africa.

AT&T's prediction in mid-May that Apple's looming iPhone launch will be "the largest commercial product launch in the history of electronics" only added fuel to the heated hype surrounding the cellular handset, iPod, and mobile internet device. The carrier company also announced in April that more than a million customers were waiting to purchase the device, and a Hitwise study revealed that the volume of U.S. searches for 'iphone' shot up 583 percent between the weeks ending May 26th and June 23rd.

by MacNN Staff