Gadget-seekers determined to be among the first to get their hands on an iPad began queuing outside Apple's flagship shop in Manhattan a day ahead of the tablet computer's Saturday debut.
About 15 aspiring iPad owners heartened by sunshine and spring temperatures had taken up positions outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue by 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday to wait for sales to commence at 9:00 the following morning (1300 GMT).
Eleven-year-old Giovanna Mullen said she staked out her place outside the store at 5:00 am Friday with her mother Jeanney Mullen and her grandmother Tony Digiorno.
The girl proudly described herself as the owner of an iPod Touch and said her mother has an iPod and a Macintosh computer, both iconic creations of California-based Apple. "We brought food, blankets...so, the three generations will say they slept together in the streets of New York," Digiorno said.
Like others in the queue, the trio had not pre-ordered iPads so resorted to hours of waiting to get the gadgets.
Newspapers and magazines are eagerly tailoring interactive, digital editions in a hope that the iPad heralds a new way to deliver content and bring in revenue.
The Apple iPad launches in the United States on Saturday with an apparent deluge of early online orders indicating that the touchscreen slate-style computers will be another big hit for the company.
While Apple has been secretive about iPad supply numbers, analysts estimate the company will sell several hundred thousand of the devices during the weekend and more than two million by the end of September.
