It’s that time of year again: Apple is releasing a new product (iPhone 5 in this case) and droves of people are lining up around city blocks to be one of the first to get their hands on them for nothing else other than bragging rights. Keep your heads up, Apple fans, you’ll have the iPhone 5 soon enough. 

That odd cultural phenomenon of geeks shamelessly engulfed in a retail love fest and sweaty urban camping experiment -- the line in front of Apple Stores for its latest gizmo -- is back again for the iPhone 5.

The ritual gathering in front of stores worldwide was once again swelling in numbers as fans queued up at stores in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore for the Friday sale.

Fans were waiting -- some in tents -- to be first on the block with the latest from Apple. Continue Reading

(Photo from Kin Cheung/AP)