A gallery of images taken from one of the very first Apple iPhones that went on sale Friday at 6:00 p.m. eastern time.

We just stopped by the Chicago Apple flagship store and were greeted by chaos — at least 35 to 40 people in line and a media frenzy of interviews taking place. Tyler Tessmann, the first guy in line, had gotten there at 2:30 and was holding court with NBC 5, while the rest of the media patiently waited to pounce. The store seemed busy but ready — employees told us that most of the prep was done, and that the store was closing down tomorrow just to manage to crowd flow.

Apple releases a video showing iPhone Finger Tips

In an interview with USA Today, Steve Jobs puts to rest the question of 3G anytime soon:

“When we looked at 3G, the chipsets were not low-enough power for what we were looking for. They were not integrated enough, so they took up too much physical space. We cared a lot about battery life and we cared a lot about physical size. Down the road, I’m sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision.”

Unless this is a major misinformation campaign. Who knows?

Apple issued another press release on iPhone today announcing the iPhone will go on sale Friday at 6pm as well as a series of tutorials and hands-on labs on Saturday. “All 164 Apple retail stores in the US will stay open until midnight, and customers can purchase up to two iPhones on a first come, first served basis.”

Chase Forslund wants an Apple iPhone so bad he’s willing to sell his 2003 Ford Ranger to pay for it.

iGiki.com, which announced earlier this month that it would release several games designed for Apple’s iPhone around the same time that the device is scheduled for launch, has offered a detailed list of those titles

Apple has developed a web app at reader.mac.com that will bring RSS feeds to the iPhone.

With eager purchasers camping out in front of Apple Stores for Friday’s iPhone launch, the company will not leave their customers unatteended.

In a reversal from what staffers have been saying for weeks, wireless carrier AT&T said Wednesday it plans to limit iPhone sales at its retail stores to ‘one per person’ on Friday — the first day the eagerly sought Apple handset is due to go on sale nationwide.

Per the latest iPhone spec page:

• iPhone
• Stereo Headset
• Dock
• Dock Connector to USB Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Documentation
• Cleaning/polishing cloth

iTunes 7.3 (not released yet) is required for iPhone

As previously rumored, the iPhone supports industry-standard Wi-Fi security and virtual private networking (VPN).

Apple and AT&T today announced that iPhone users will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple’s popular iTunes software running on a PC or Mac computer in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated.

Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal

• Feels solid
• Multitouch: “effective, practical and fun”
• No way to copy/paste text
• Microsoft’s Exchange system support

David Pogue, New York Times

• “so sleek and thin, it makes Treos and BlackBerrys look obese.”
• After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off.
• Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to “trust” the keyboard. “The BlackBerry won’t be going away anytime soon.”
• AT&T’s EDGE cellular network: “excruciatingly slow”

Steven Levy, Newsweek

• the iPhone is a significant leap
• YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when you’re not at a hotspot and are using AT&T’s EDGE network
• The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge

Apple announced their service plans for iPhone today, all of them included unlimited data transfer, visual voicemail, 200 texts, roll-over minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling.

The wunderkinds at Boy Genius may have another scoop in the works. According to their report, ‘… The iPhone data plan will be around $34.99-$44.99 and feature unlimited data, and either 2000 text messages, or unlimited text messages.’

Gridskipper, the decadent urban travel guide, publishes their iPhone Campout Guide for cities near you.

Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses resulting in a lot of mistakes. Leave it up to these guys to throw a bucket of cold water on the hysteria.

The first retail-bound iPhone shipments arrived successfully in the United States this past weekend, touching down quietly at a handful of drop locations just six days before the device is due to go on sale.

New information suggests that most AT&T store staffers will be running hard to keep up with demand for the iphone on opening day.

The Wall Street Journal tech guru, Walt Mossberg, has been living with his iPhone for a week now and the rumor on the street is that he is ‘loving’ it.

A Flickr account, presumably by an AT&T store employee, shows some of the early iPhone accessory arrivals.

An AT&T field technician who has been testing an iPhone for nearly two months says that the device is ready for launch.

Apple releases 25 minute video presenting the major features of the iPhone. Some note-worthy firsts from this video:

• iPhone ships with a stereo headset that features a microphone and integrated button that lets users answer and end calls easily.
• If a call comes in while music is playing, the volume will fade out and the iPhone will pause the music. A single click on the headset button will answer the call. A second click will hang up and fade the music back in right where it left off.
• iPhone can be locked by pressing the Sleep/Wake button. iPhone will still receive calls when locked and allow users to play music and adjust the volume. However, nothing will happen if the user accidently touches the screen.

Security researchers at IBM thinks the Apple iPhone is too hot a target to pass up.