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Topic: iPhone

Brother and sister duo nabs first iPhone 5 in the world

Summary: James and Tamsyn Vohradsky were lucky enough to be two of the first owners of the iPhone 5 when it was launched in Sydney, Australia, this morning.

Spandas Lui

By |

The long-awaited Apple iPhone 5 has been launched in Australia, with a brother and sister duo becoming two of the first owners of the device in the world.

Due to its time zone, Australia was first country to make the iPhone 5 available to consumers.

The queue outside the George Street Apple Store in Sydney began on Tuesday, and was mostly populated by those who were either paid to be there, or were advertising their various companies. By the morning of the launch today, the line had snaked its way around the block and then some.

Apple owners
Proud iPhone 5 owners James and Tamsyn Vohradsky. (Credit: ZDNet)

The doors swung open at 8 a.m. AEST at the George Street Apple Store. James Vohradsky was the first to emerge from the store, triumphantly holding up his black iPhone 5, followed by his sister, Tamsyn, with the white version.

They were close to the front of the queue and had been lining up for 17 hours.

According to an Apple spokesperson, the pair had also lined up for the iPhone 4S when it was launched last year.

James and Tamsyn were quickly whisked away to the top floor of the Apple Store to avoid the media frenzy outside.

Telstra and Optus also held morning launches for the new iPhone. Vodafone didn't have a launch event, opting instead to mainly ship the phone out to customers today and over the weekend.

The iPhone 5 was unveiled earlier this month. Besides a longer, 4-inch Retina Display, the phone also carries the Apple A6 chip, an 8-megapixel HD camera, and it weighs much less than its predecessors.

Stay tuned for ZDNet's video coverage of the Apple iPhone 5 launch in Sydney.

Updated 10:50 a.m.(AEST) Amended first par of the article.

Topics: iPhone, Apple, Mobility, Australia

About

Spandas forayed into tech journalism in 2009 as a fresh university graduate spurring her passion for all things tech. Based in Australia, Spandas covers enterprise and business IT.

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54 comments
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  • Please

    If this is worthy of a blog, ZDNet has lost all sense of purpose. Count me out.
    D.T.Long
    Reply 6 Votes

    • Yawn.

      It must be friday.

      And in other news, Android activations continue to rise, currently about 900k / day.
      meski.oz@...
      Reply 1 Vote

      • More breaking news

        Android phones OS failure rates continue to rise. Quality for android phones on the decline.
        User expiernce flat with android.

        Wait that is not breaking news, that is reality. "Oh wait for the next OS update", said with a nasaly voice....grilled cheese or ice cream melted wil fix it.

        This from a MS fan. But iphone is better than android, ipad is better than android...see a pattern here? I would take a blackberry over an android because android is a bunch of crashing crap.
        bin00010111
        Reply Vote

        • Sheep mentality

          @bin00010111 You must be an apple fan, get serious who cares about being the first person to get hold of the iphone 5? After all that's what the article is about, isn't it?

          It's certainly not about what you say - decling android sales or how bad android is. It's about hysteria, madness, sheep mentality. Basically it's, I am special because I have the iphone 5 and you don't.

          This is what makes us laugh, btw I'm just an ordinary person who uses smartphones regardless of what OS it is. I prefer value for money when I purchase my phones I don't need to buy them because everyone else has one.
          gvarhelyi@...
          Reply Vote

    • agreed

      plz post the first youtube videos of the duo taken from iphone...also the first map they searched to reach their home...what did they ask first to Siri ? the first picture taken should be hanged in louvre next to monalisa...provide them some land on moon.
      experience@...
      Reply Vote

    • Imagine your job is writing these posts

      What a waste of a college education.
      AnalogJoystick
      Reply 1 Vote

  • This just in....

    Nobody cares.
    blarelli
    Reply 3 Votes

    • You took time to read and respond so you CARE my friend:)

      And I love you for it!!! SMOOCH....

      Pagan jim
      James Quinn
      Reply Vote

  • So what?

    Dear Zdnet, for heaven's sake, this journo is the most biased writer ever. What a loser!
    sydneyramen
    Reply 4 Votes

  • Apple! Why does everyone keep praising Apple (Communist)?

    It is just a piece of hardware! Hardware these days keep getting out dated every couple of months by new revisions of that particular hardware or by something new entirely.

    Also why support a company that limits your choices even if it is from our Country USA. As far as I see Apple with it's products works pretty much like the communist. Apple puts hardware in the market to what they think you should get and nothing else. Not only do they pretty much *force you to chose from such limited products but also sell the accessories at a premium price...EVEN for cables. How much can it cost to make data cables for their devices...for them to sell these at such a high price must be made in the USA.

    *I use the word 'force' because Apple users will always support Apple sooooo they dont have any other choice but to forcibly purchase their products.

    Apple followers need to stand up for themselves and make Apple give them a little break and sell the accessories at MUCH lower price. Idiots.
    lares3k
    Reply 3 Votes

    • The iPhone is NOT just another piece of hardware.

      It is revolutionary and innovative to perfection.
      Also, the new revisions are not trivial by any means. It has a 28-megapixel camera with retina -level image capture technology. And the A6 processor, it's one of a kind.

      Also, I don't feel like Apple is dictating my life. It just so happens that I WANT what they put out on the market. What else SHOULD they make available? And why are you complaining about the high price of their data cables? $29 is a BARGAIN for their new optimized cable, which will be blazing fast, much faster than standard USB.

      I am not being forced into anything.
      rockysup55
      Reply Vote

      • Umm yeah right

        Perfection? I think you've been sleep deprived from standing in line too long!
        slickjim
        Reply 2 Votes

        • And I think you are consumed by a very emotional state of Apple hatred.

          Don't know where it came from the whys or wheres of it but I do know this much it is silly to have such emotions about a company that does not care one bit what you think and or feel about it. No Apple did not go into business just to blank you off nor does it thrive as it does now to blank you off. Get over it:P

          Pagan jim
          James Quinn
          Reply Vote

        • You bet it's perfect

          It never crashes.
          It's never slow.
          The voice quality is great.
          It doesn't drop calls.
          Voice-recognition technology (Siri) is one of a kind.
          It has a fantastic SLR-comparable camera

          I could go on and on
          rockysup55
          Reply Vote

    • Actually this is how Apple does things. They tell you what their

      products do. They do what Apple said and people who buy based on those criteria are usually very happy with said cause again it does what is advertised. Apple users don't try to keep up with the Jones because they don't have a need/want to do so. Sure there are new phones coming out every other day it would seem but as long as you have a device that is reliable, works as advertised and will last you a few good solid years with regular OS upgrades why bother to keep up with the Jones? It's a silly game after all and serves no one well. So no you are never forced to use Apple... In the end it is but a choice you make after being informed you can choose android phones of all sorts and sizes and soon more Windows phones than you can shake a stick at as well as BB. So where is this imaginary force you speak of?

      Pagan jim
      James Quinn
      Reply Vote

    • Jay Krishnan

      Had it not been for the cold war, communism would have survived. It would have been a splendid society devoid of waste, where everything would be free to everyone, and everyone would have progressed together, one step at a time. Had it not been for the legal cases, Apple would have survived to become an all inclusive, more friendly platform
      Jay Krishnan
      Reply Vote

  • Why bother...

    Is it not obvious to people that there were multiple apple stores on the eastern seaboard that all opened at 8am? Is it therefore not equally obvious that these people probably weren't the first or at best got their hands on one at the same time as other people?

    Buying Apple's PR straight from their kool-aid fountain.

    Just because something happened near your office doesn't mean its an isolated instance worth reporting.
    brettow
    Reply 1 Vote

    • No shrimps on the barbie for you

      N//T
      Robert Hahn
      Reply Vote

  • To all the naysayers .. lighten up!

    Look at the photo again. What the most obvious thing you notice? For me, the most obvious thing was the girl with the iPhone smiling and having some fun. (Then, I noticed all the paparazzi around her. Don't know if they were having fun or not. Grin.)
    kenosha77a
    Reply Vote

  • Wheredtheygo!

    What happened to the publicity seekers that were interviewed on the TV last night? Did they disappear before it opened?
    Pachanga-4184c
    Reply Vote
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