This is it TiPb Nation, the Apple equivalent of the Superbowl and your birthday all rolled into one — new iPhone launch day! All around the world, the community is gathering at their local Apple Retail, carrier, and big box stores to line up for the iPhone 4S. It’s not just about the phone, it’s about the experience — it’s about being there with everyone else, talking, joking, and this year — remembering Steve.

Whether you’re showing up in black shirt and jeans, or showing up just to be there, we want to know where you are, how many people are with you, and when you get your new iPhone.

Send us your thoughts, your experiences, and your pictures. Especially your pictures. You can post them on the iPhone 4S Forum along with with rest of the TiPb nation, or tweet them to us @TiPb. If you want to hang:

• Rene will be at Fairview in Montreal.
• Ally will be at University Park Mall in Southbend, Indiana.
• Leanna will be stopping by Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, Colorado.

Let us know where you’ll be and how it’s going!

[Picture from iPhone 4 launch, we'll swap it for a new one when we get it!]

Update: Marc Edwards from Bjango and Iterate tells us the Doncaster, Australia store had its biggest launch yet and the lineup was longer than the iPad 2 launch. (They still have some black units in stock though, so hurry!)

I’m at the Apple Flagship Store, waiting in line for the latest, greatest iPhone 3G S. 10 or so people right now, but apparently some tour buses are on the way. We’ll update this thread with more from TiPb and our readers, so if you’re in line, head over to the TiPb iPhone Forums and post your pics, stories, and videos. Dieter will move some of the funnest over here.

Good luck to all!

[pic thanks to @Forian}

[The updates continue after the break!]

Our good pal Matthew Miller of Nokia Experts fame lined up in Seattle at 2:30am local.

Meanwhile, many folks in Europe already have the 3G S in hand, per pguich in our iPhone Forums:

Switzerland started selling iphones about an hour ago. I was there 5 minutes before opening, and there were about 3 people waiting (I think 2 weren’t even there for the iphone). Doesn’t look like the mad rush from last year is going to happen.

Chad Garrett boldly waited until 6:00 am to line up at Kenwood Towne Center in Cincinnati, OH and it doesn’t look like he’ll miss out on his iPhone 3G S because of his tardiness.

Forum member nyknicks4412 is genuinely excited about his iPhone 3G S video taken in the parking lot above.

Leanne Lofte isn’t so sure that she needed to show up at 5:30am in Monterey, CA, what with only nine people in line.

Matthew Miller sends word that rain has finally come to Seattle… just in time to fall on iPhone Line sitters. Fortunately, there are umbrellas to be had.

Rene’s all set! No activation yet, though — has to go home and do it through iTunes, he says.

You knew it was coming, inevitable as the rise of Old Glory on July 4th — the first iPhone 3G line up has begun at the NYC Apple Flagship Store!

Or should we say… Tailgate Party!

(iPhone launches are the Superbowl of consumer electronics, aren’t they?)

The line began forming today, the Friday before the Friday of launch, just 1 week (and a few hours) before the first iPhone 3G goes on sale at 8am (and, if an AT&T estimate of 30 min. per activation is anywhere near accurate, likely 7 days and many hours before the second one will be up for sale!)

Geardiary reports there are almost a dozen people lined up already, with security being very obliging, and Apple Store employees playing nice.

So, here’s to the USA, and to the few, the ultra-devoted — those who dare to phone different first. We’re with you in spirit.

Save some for the rest of us!

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