Manhattan iPhone Watch: T minus 1.25 days

Trying to keep cool and get some shut-eye while waiting in line for the iPhone

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

High noon. The rain's stopped, thankfully, but now it's sunny and sweltering in New York. I stopped by the downtown Apple Store in SoHo right around midday, and the dozen or so people waiting in line for the iPhone were now using their umbrellas as parasols. Luckily, Apple Store representatives were walking around handing out free bottles of SmartWater (is that what they feed them at the Genius Bar?) to the queuers.

At the front of the line, as previously reported, is a group of volunteers from Keep a Child Alive, the foundation that had staked out the number-one spot as a way to raise awareness and benefit from the heavy media coverage that the iPhone launch is getting. Johnny Vulkan, from the Anomaly advertising agency that represents Keep a Child Alive, was on hand to fill me in on some of the donations the foundation has scored: Netflix and Six Flags have offered to "sponsor," meaning that in return for a donation to Keep a Child Alive, their logos will be displayed by the volunteers in line; and there's a possibility of eBay doing something as well.