I Now Own An iPhone 4!

“I have been given an iPhone 4 by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra.”

Around 2 years ago, at this time of the year, I was the first owner of a Telstra iPhone 3G in Melbourne. I remember queueing up with a friend overnight just to ensure that we got ours early so that we could show the guys in the office and not have to line up during the day. Never did I intend to be the first, nor did I want the publicity that I received on the day but it was an experience that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life!

This year things were a lot different. As Telstra’s Social Reviewer for the iPhone 4, I didn’t have to queue for hours in freezing temperatures with the potential of being mugged by drunken mid-week revelers. As planned earlier with the Telstra Social Media Team, I arrived 30 minutes before the official 12am launch and was quickly escorted up to the first floor of the Telstra T-Life Store and was presented my device by Telstra’s Lifestyle and Consumer Media Spokesperson, the lovely Kathryn McFarlane (see above).

I’m really honored and blessed to be given this opportunity to review such an amazing device!

Thank you Telstra.

It’s Free But The Review Will Be Me

Over the next couple of days you’ll see blog posts where I will detail my experience with the iPhone 4 on Telstra’s NextG network. I acknowledge that the iPhone 4 has been provided free of charge by Telstra however the views presented in my posts will be unbiased and solely my opinion.

Telstra iPhone 4 Launch Photos

My iPhone 4 has spent the night charging and is ready to be put through its paces today. Before I start though, let me share some photos that I captured from the night.

(If you want a more realtime account of my iPhone 4 experience, follow my Twitter account)

This is Ron who was the first in line this time around. He started his vigil at 2pm and was just keen to get his hands on an iPhone 4!

The Telstra team in blue were there to get people excited.

Was funny to see that Optus was only across the road holding their own Melbourne iPhone 4 launch too. It seemed that their line was longer.

Yup that’s right there was a live DJ at the Telstra T-Life store pumpin’ up the bass.

Decorations.

At around 12am, she announced that the party was just getting started.

There was plenty of sugar, apples and popcorn for people in line. Not entirely nutritious but enough to keep the masses from rioting.

The Telstra iPhone 4 line in Melbourne was approximately a block long.

Here’s Zoe Badwi showing off her vocal skills amongst other things…

See I told you there was popcorn!

That popcorn guy seems to be getting quite friendly with the singer. Choc-top looks aggressive too.

Here are some of the first 20 in line anxiously awaiting their iPhone 4s.

Uber cool Telstra Media / Social Media team. Thanks for being so friendly and helpful. Marty, I’ll add you on Twitter!

Poor kid lined up for 6 hours only to find he didn’t have enough ID to get his iPhone 4. Good lesson for all eager geeks around.

Presenting the iPhone 4 at the store.

Here’s my iPhone 4 showing how bad I am at updating my apps (23 to update!).

More iPhone 4 insights coming…