EON

San Francisco - Outside the Apple and AT&T stores in Silicon Valley Thursday it was hard to find too many business types waiting breathlessly for the release of the most-hyped gadget in modern history.

But there were plenty of casually-dressed twenty-somethings waiting for the multitasking iPhone that appears set to become the must-have device for a tech-savvy generation that likes its tech-toys to have as much style as substance.

Some call these individuals techno-sexuals for their almost fetishistic lust for new high tech gadgets. Another name could be the iGeneration, reflecting the ability of gadgets to empower the individual, or the narcissistic obsession with owning the latest tech creations.

For those waiting in line outside the Apple store in Mountain View - home to Google, that other great icon of Silicon Valley - such theories were inconsequential.

“We’re just here for the phone, because it’s the coolest phone ever, because it will impress our friends, and maybe even impress some girls,” said Lee Chen, a 27-year-old graphic designer who had been waiting outside the store with three friends since before dawn on Wednesday. The phone is going on sale on Friday at 6 pm.

Similar lines were reported outside many of the major urban stores selling the new handset, which combines Apple’s market crushing iPod media player with an internet browser and a cellphone.

The triple play device is encased in a beautiful black tablet which features an innovative multi-touch screen that Apple contends is far superior to the myriad of tiny buttons that have been used to operate so called smart-phones in the past.

The phone, which costs 500 or 600 dollars depending on memory size, has so far won largely positive backing from reviewers, who say that despite a few shortcomings it is an impressive device.

The Wall Street Journal called it “a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer” while The New York Times said the phone “matches most of its hype” and that it was “amazing … but not perfect”.

One of the most critical reviews appeared in the New York Post whose reviewer said the phone was “a technological marvel” but was flawed by a lack of memory and slow internet service. He advised consumers to wait for more advanced versions to come out within the year.

“Don’t get hung up on buying an iPhone,” he said. “Tens of thousands of people are expected to line up this Friday for the most hyped gadget of the decade - the iPhone. Don’t be one of them.”

Those arguments appeared to have little sway on Chen or the many others clamouring to get their hands on the sexy black box, despite the high retail price and additional monthly service charges of at least 60 dollars.

Industry analysts expect the first iPhone to sell quickly, with predictions Apple and AT&T could shift about three million handsets within the first weeks.

But it’s unlikely to dominate the cellphone market in the same way that the iPod changed the world of music listening. The iPhone has many entrenched competitors who are already ramping up their products to match some of the iPhone’s innovations.

Even if it is a hit with consumers, the most robust market for smartphones has so far been the corporate market, which is keeping well away from the new device largely because of its unproven record and incompatibility with corporate networks.

Some even believe that the phone’s drawbacks, like its high price and inability to use the fastest cellular networks, could give Apple a flop to rival that of the company’s infamous 1993 Newton personal organizer which was also ahead of its time but failed to gain traction with consumers.

“I think it’s going to be a flop,” said tech entrepreneur Michael Robertson. “It’s beautiful, no doubt. I think it’s going to be a bust of a product, but it is going to push the industry forward a lot, and make the carriers - especially in the United States - consider higher-end, more feature-rich phones.”