iPhone 5 release day live 09.07 As mentioned earlier, the iPhone 5 has been on sale in some parts of the the world for a few hours already. Australia was the first country to get the new handset and here is Todd Foot, the first customer to buy one: 09.03 It might surprise you to learn that not everyone wants to buy an iPhone 5. See the comments on this article, for example. Here's my colleague Matt Warman explaining why he wouldn't switch from Android: But the [Samsung Galaxy] S3 lets me send files simply by touching it to another phone; if I look up a contact and pick up the phone to put it to my ear, it knows I want to call that person. 08.50 Over in Covent Garden, the steady flow of customers continues through the Apple shop. The noise is deafening inside the shop, writes Lucy Kinder. 08.43 You know you've got problems when Transport for London teases you about letting your customers down: Thanks to Tony Hedges on Twitter 08.36 While there will be no shortage of people ready to mock those who choose to queue for the chance to be among the first to own a new phone, the fact that Apple is able to generate this kind of excitement is something that its competitors should envy. Here's Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg: 08.32 The interesting thing about that Apple statement (see below) is that it came relatively quickly. Two years ago, for example, Apple took days to respond to the 'Antennagate' furore. The speedy response here might be taken as a sign of the change in the company's attitude in the post-Jobs era. The pessimistic interpretation is that Apple knows there is no quick fix for this problem and therefore it's not worth holding their response until they can promise an improvement. There won't be a 'here, have a free Bumper' moment here, I suspect. 08.20 Thanks to the magic of time zones, some people have had an iPhone 5 in their hands for a while. It's already on sale in Hong Kong, for example, where this guy was one of the first in line: 08.10 If you missed the Maps chaos, start here. Overnight, Apple issued a statement. The company said: Customers around the world are upgrading to iOS 6 with over 200 new features including Apple Maps, our first map service. We are excited to offer this service with innovative new features like Flyover, turn by turn navigation, and Siri integration. We launched this new map service knowing it is a major initiative and that we are just getting started with it. Maps is a cloud-based solution and the more people use it, the better it will get. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better. 08.07 Just kidding! There's plenty more to talk about. Maps, for starters. Those in the queue are very relaxed about it, says Lucy. "They'll fix it," says one. 08.04 And that's it. Thanks for joining our live blog... 08.00 And the doors are open. The first person to get the new iPhone is Ryan Williams and he's "being mobbed" by staff, Lucy writes. Each new person entering the store gets a Mexican wave from the staff. 07.59 The doors will be open any second. The Apple staff, says Lucy, "are whooping and clapping inside the Apple store waiting for the first person to be let in to get their phone." 07.55 Lucy says that, according to security, there are around 700 people queueing outside the Covent Garden Apple shop, waiting for the doors to open. Inside "they are frantically polishing the glass stairs." 07.50 Good morning and welcome to the iPhone 5 release day liveblog. As always, the release of a new iPhone is expected to draw large crowds, particularly since supplies are expected to be limited. Announced by Apple last week, the iPhone 5 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, and it is powered by a processor that is twice as fast. This year, however, the release has been somewhat overshadowed by complaints about Apple's Maps app in iOS 6, the operating system that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Released this week, iOS 6 is the first version of Apple's operating system to drop Google Maps. Unfortunately, as users all over the world are discovering, the new maps are filled with errors and omissions. Will that put off the people queueing outside Apple's shops this morning? Probably not. Lucy Kinder is at the Covent Garden Apple shop and we'll hear from her shortly.