Apple iPhone 5 Revealed, How To Get Yours Locally (And Why)

Demand promises to be strong for the newly revealed iPhone 5 for which pre-orders online started being after midnight Sept. 14. The phones will be available for in-store purchases Sept. 21.

An employee at the Apple Store at the Westfield Brandon shopping mall confirmed that the phone will be available for in-store purchases there starting 8 a.m. Sept. 21.

On the Apple Web site, the new iPhone is touted as "the biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone."

• Watch the keynote address in which Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the new iPhone. "We've got some really cool stuff to show you," he said.

• Watch the introductory video that discusses the new iPhone, in which the speaker starts off by saying: "When you think about your iPhone it's probably the product you use most in your life. It's the product that you have with you all the time. With this unique relationship people have with their iPhone we take changing it very seriously. We don't want to just make a new phone, we want to make a much better phone."

Toward that end, Apple features the iPhone 5's larger screen (4-inch Retina display), "ultrafast" wireless connections (to more networks worldwide) and  "all-new, Apple-designed" A6 chip, which is reported to be twice as fast as the A5 chip. Also noted is the 8MP iSight camera and the phone's "thinnest and lightest design" to date.

Ordering online started at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time and at 3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. To order online, visit Apple online. According to the Web site, there wil be no delivery charge. The iPhone is priced starting at $199, with a two-year service agreement.

According to Wired, and its Sept. 13 Gadget Lab report, Apple’s carrier partners Sprint and Verizon have also confirmed that pre-orders will begin at the same time, give or take a minute. AT&T had yet to confirm when it would begin selling the phone online, but in the past has offered pre-orders in tandem with Apple.

Enjoy standing in line? Want the instant gratification of purchase made, product in hand? Then it's a good bet the Apple retail store at Westfield Brandon is the place you'll want to be starting 8 a.m. Sept. 21.

The phone also will be available at local Sprint and local AT&T and local Verizon retail outlets. Here's some local locations:

• Verizon Wireless, 11395 Causeway Blvd., Brandon, 813-643-3507
• Verizon Wireless, 1019 Bloomingdale Ave.m Valrico, 813-684-1300
• Sprint Store, 1916 W. Brandson Blvd., Brandon, 813-571-7727
• AT&T Wireless, 10645 Big Bend Rd., Riverview, 813-549-3320
• AT&T Wireless, 2020 W. Brandon Blvd., Brandon, 813-684-3000
• AT&T Wireless, 10945 Causeway Blvd., Brandon, 813-643-5288

In addition to the , the new iPhone will be available at the Apple Store at International Plaza, 2223 North West Shore Blvd., Tampa.

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