Dunedin techies gagging for a play with the new iPhone suffered a case of call waiting today.

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch got first go at the gadget – doors there opened at 12.01am.
Apple addicts here had to hang out until 9am.

Varsity student Nick McCabe was still planning to sit on the pavement outside First Mobile to get in first: “I’m worried they are only going to put in six or seven per shop, so I’m going to be right at the front.”

Apple’s 3G handsets, carried by Vodafone in New Zealand, aren’t cheap. A handset alone costs $979 for the eight-gigabyte version and $1129 for the 16-gigabyte one. Existing Vodafone account holders can then add a data plan. A two-year contract for a 250GB package costs $80 a month, with handsets priced at $549 and $699.

Tom Barnett of web design company Myth says: “Crazy prices. [We] were each going to get one. Now we’re going to boycott them.”

Three retailers – Student IT, First Mobile and Magnum Mac – are selling the sleek number.