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iPhone 6 has people camping out for days. Will they be able to buy it today?

iPhone 6 rumors have had people lining up outside Apple Stores in Japan and New York for days now – even though there's no guarantee that they will be able to buy the iPhone 6 immediately after Tuesday's highly anticipated Apple announcement. 

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Andy Wong/AP/File
a Chinese man talking on his phone walks into an Apple store in Beijing. Apple is poised to reveal its next big thing Tuesday, Sept. 9 in a crucial attempt to prove its technological tastemakers still have the power to mesmerize the masses. The release of the iPhone 6 is widely anticipated.

Here at DealNews, we're quite familiar with the notion of shoppers camping out in order to be the first to buy something — but that's usually in pursuit of a hard-to-obtain TV deal or some such doorbuster in limited supply. You'd hardly think it necessary for a widely-available smartphone, right?

And yet, people have been street-sleeping for several days in anticipation of Apple's rumored iPhone 6 announcement tomorrow. According to the Wall Street Journal, fans in Japan are waiting patiently outside of the Tokyo store, and are apparently forming a makeshift community in which fellow line-standers "take turns taking a bath at nearby bathhouses."

Shoppers in Japan have lined up since Saturday, while in New York, people have been parked on the concrete for even longer — some as early as August 31. However, a select few in NY have ulterior motives to promote products to the journalists that inevitably interview them about their "adventure." While it's not surprising that promotional needs might motivate some, others reportedly just want to experience the hype firsthand.

Readers, what do you think about iPhone campers? Are any of you currently viewing this outside an Apple store, enduring the heat and humidity just to get your hands on the latest iDevice before your friends?

The anticipation for the new iPhone has led to a number of interesting related rumors. Among them: that the long-delayed new U2 album will be pre-loaded onto a select handful of the new devices. Apple Insider has the (rumored) scoop: 

With the "iPhone 6" expected to be a highlight of next week's gathering, rumblings out of Dublin claim Apple will preload U2's upcoming album on one or more handset models, a move that would be unprecedented for a company intent on keeping "bloatware" down to a minimum. 
Another rumor from Twitter came from CNET reporter Shara Tibken, who heard tell that U2 frontman Bono might make a special appearance at the Sept. 9 event, possibly as a performer. It has been speculated that a two-story structure Apple built outside of Flint Center — the Sept. 9 event cite — could serve as an impromptu stage for such a show.
Aside from being a friend of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs and current SVP of Design Jony Ive, Bono has worked with the company through the (RED) initiative to fight AIDS. As of June, Apple has raised some $75 million for the worldwide charity by selling branded (RED) iPods and accessories. 

Readers, what do you think about iPhone campers? Are any of you currently viewing this outside an Apple store, enduring the heat and humidity just to get your hands on the latest iDevice before your friends?

Lindsay Sakraida is the features director for Dealnews.com, where this article first appeared: http://dealnews.com/features/People-Have-Been-Lining-Up-for-the-iPhone-for-Days-Now/1144198.html

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