...sleeping in tents on the sidewalk, on Oct 4th, should I walk by an Apple store? I can't understand if sales are going to start that very day, or if it is only a presentation in Cupertino?

Based on prior history, the ship date will likely be shortly after the announcement. Popular rumors put that at October 14th, but nothing official has been stated yet.

iPhone, announced Jan 7, 2007. Released in the US June 29th.
iPhone 3G, announced June 9th, 2008. Released in the US July 11, 2008.
iPhone 3GS announced June 8th, 2009. Released in the US June 19th, 2009.
iPhone 4 announced June 7th, 2010. Released in the US June 24th, 2010.
iPhone ? announced October 4th, 2011. Released in the US ?

Like Tom said, there's very little chance that the new iPhone will come out on the 4th. Then again, they've never released a new iPhone this late in the year before, so who knows. But still, I can't imagine it being in stores the very same day they have the announcement.

I've also heard weird rumors of a Saturday launch, but I can't remember which day the rumor was for- the 8th or the 15th.

Either way, I'm really not looking forward to those lines. I don't want to wait in them, but it's time for an upgrade to my wife's 3GS, so I'll do it for her

The original iPhone line was an amazing productivity boost for myself and my old lead. We had a major deadline shortly after the launch, and chose to campout all day with our laptops. Free wifi, food and drinks, along with no coworkers randomly interrupting us helped us greatly to meet the deadline

Regardless of when it's released, the date for Italy is sure to be later than the date for the US if the past is any indication.

But, the bottom line is, time's running out to ditch those worthless Android handsets.

Yes, but actually I'll be in NYC next week, so I was wondering if I had to plan accordingly.

Meaning:


Me neither! I'd rather stay away from that! But, my flight back is on the 6th, so if the pattern does not change and they release two days after poresentation, I should be clear of that. I was curious to see the Apple store on 5th avenue, but I'd really not want to get cougth in the croud camping outside.

I'm personally waiting to see what the Android 4 / Ice Cream Sandwich / Samsung Nexus Prime will be all about. My Droid X is only 1.5 years old, but I'm pissed at several Motorola-isms and the new phone would let me have a "pure" Android experience. Plus, the rumormill says it will be on Verizon, where I already have a contract. Verizon has, for inscrutable reasons, been offering me new-customer pricing on upgrades to my Droid X, so I might be able to take advantage of that for the upgrade.

I am also waiting for that phone and I'm quite excited about it. I'm also hoping that when I become a Verizon customer I get similar upgrade offers around that timeframe, because that seems to be about the length of time I'm holding onto a phone.

My Nexus One is starting to get pretty flaky, but I do use it like crazy. My wife's 3GS is also starting to act up on her a lot. I wonder if we're going to start seeing more of these phones dying before our contracts are up. We're asking a lot more of these complex smartphones than we ever did of those RAZRs...