The new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus hit stores around the world on Friday. Because of its time zone, Australia was the first country where they went on sale. One of the first customers in line was a robot to the surprise of the rest of the queue.
Luckily for the robot, the humans were polite and did not try to jump the queue ahead of it. In fact, they were more eager to take selfies with the robot, which was operated by a marketing executive named Lucy Kelly.
The robot displayed Kelly's face on an iPad screen attached to a pole on wheels. “I obviously have my work and other things to attend to and can't spend two days lining up so my boss at work suggested I take one of the robots down and use it to stand in my place,” she said.
Interestingly, the same thing happened in Apple's Palo Alto store in California, when the phone went on sale in the US. Brianna Lempesis of San Diego operated the Beam telepresence robot sold by her company, Suitable Technologies.
The publicity stunt worked. Lempesis was interviewed by local TV crews and Apple sold her an iPhone after retrieving the cash from a rear panel of the robot. The phone was placed in a bag that hung from the side of the robot.
A thief could have easily swiped the phone as the robot returned home but the residents of Palo Alto are apparently an honest lot. “I don't think anyone will [steal it]. I really think people are better than that and so far that's what I've experienced," Lempesis said.
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which are priced at $199 and $299 respectively, went on sale on Friday in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
