Apple iPhone goes on sale in Japan

Japanese carrier Softbank Corp. started selling Apple Inc.'s much-awaited cell phone at its downtown Tokyo store five hours before its other stores across Japan.

The countdown celebration, which included a digital clock display ticking away over the entrance, was part of a global rollout in 22 nations of the 3G, or third-generation, wireless connecting iPhone. The latest iPhone is an upgrade of the model that went on sale last year in the U.S. and several other nations.

Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were the other Asia-Pacific locations getting the new phone. In the United States, phones will be available at 8 a.m. in each time zone.

"This is the year that the cell phone becomes an Internet-connecting machine," Softbank President Masayoshi Son told the crowd gathered at the store.

By Friday, the line that had been growing for days at the downtown store had reached about 1,000 people, even though signs had gone up that said the store had stopped accepting applications.

Exactly how many iPhones will be available is uncertain, fueling the hype about the Apple gadget.

Taichiro Nakamura, a 28-year-old filmmaker, showed off his brand new iPhone and said the first thing he did with it was call his girlfriend.

"I'm so happy," he said, adding that he had the iPod Touch portable music player and decided he wanted the iPhone, too. "I've been interested for some time."

Tomohiko Katsu, a 38-year-old banker, said he has rarely lined up for any product in his life but wanted to make sure he got the iPhone and got in line Thursday afternoon.