iPhone 3GS launch: view from the queue

O2 and Apple launched the new iPhone 3GS today around the UK, and despite most people being unable to upgrade their phones for free, there were still queues outside O2 and Apple outlets.

O2's Oxford St branches began to see people queuing from 6.20 in the morning, even though with only five minutes before store opening at 8.02AM, there were only 10 people waiting for the new iPhone.

We spoke to the first in the queue, who didn't want to be named as he'd taken some time off school in order to be the first to have the new iPhone.

O2 STORE: The queue for the new iPhone 3GS was minimal, but customers were still queuing out the door two hours later

He was one of the first in line for the iPhone 3G last year, and said that the interest was a lot less than previously:

"Last year, the lines were really busy, I got here at the same time but I was way back in the queue.

"The queue was over double as long, almost to the end of the road."

He was currently on contract, but a kind parent was paying for the phone on PAYG (and she didn't know how much they were, so she was in for something of a shock) and he said he would be swapping the phones and donating the old one to a family member.

Upgraded

In fact, in the whole early queue, there was only one other contract upgrader, Andrew Lee, and he was upgrading from the 2G version:

"I'm currently upgrading every other cycle [of iPhone]," he admitted. "I anticipated it would be every year, so I just waited.

"We didn't know what to expect from the new iPhone 3GS, perhaps something half as thin with a front facing camera, but I'm looking forward to the magnetometer.

"The 2G version doesn't even have GPS and I think people have dismissed the compass unfairly."

He hoped that he wouldn't have to do the same next year, as he believed that O2 would lose its exclusivity with Apple in the coming months, and he would be offered a greater deal to stay, which may be wishful thinking on his part.

APPLE STORE: New customers were forced to queue out the door and around the block, even with the sky high prices for the new iPhone 3GS

However, outside the Apple store in Regent street, things were a lot more boisterous, with throngs of people queuing up for the latest device, just across the street from Nokia's flagship store, where just two people were waiting patiently for the launch of the new N97.

Even though the queue outside the Nokia store for the N97 launch (as well as Nokia's latest flagship camera phone, the 8MP N86) did improve before it opened at 10AM, the Finns could never compete with Apple's effort, which could be partly to do with fact that the N97 on offer today still isn't available from a carrier, so users would have to pay over £500 for an unlocked device.

NOKIA'S N97 LAUNCH: Not quite those seen at the iPhone 3GS launch

It was always going to be a foregone conclusion when the two devices locked horns, so check out our iPhone 3GS review when it goes up early next week to see if it really is better than Nokia's flagship effort.