iPhone 5S sold out within minutes in first day of trading

The painful wait is finally over for thousands of die-hard Apple fans, as the brand new iPhone 5S prepares to fly off the shelves in its first few hours of sale.

Shops opened this morning to snaking queues, bursting with people eager to get their hands on the latest Apple model in addition to its smaller, budget version, the 5C.

Some devotees had even been camped outside an Apple store in central London’s Regent Street since Monday evening – three and a half days before its release date.

Seventeen-year-old student Gad Harari had pitched himself at the front of the queue in a makeshift tent and claimed that he would not sell his spot for less than £1,000.

Talking about the new iPhone he spoke of its attraction and said: ‘I think it’s amazing. It’s cool, it’s new and it’s sci-fi.’

The two handsets were revealed last week much to the anticipation of the tech company’s worldwide followers.

The 5S comes in gold, silver or ‘space’ grey, while its other new functions include a fingerprint scanner.

However, many have had to walk away from stores this morning bitterly disappointed.

Shop workers had to walk down and give golden tickets to those in the queue, each with a unique number until they reached the maximum number of handsets the store actually had available.

Queues in Cardiff were so large this morning that one phone store sold out of its handsets five minutes before even opening its doors.

Twitter users have taken to the social media site to vent either their fury at losing out, their joy at obtaining one, or even simply bewilderment at the efforts some fans have gone to.

Mark Allman said: ‘#iPhone5S Crazy fool saying no to £500 for his place in the queue #crazyfool.’

n Liverpool, the phone seems to have gone already too: ‘Didn’t manage to get a device, but Apple staff kept everyone in the loop to avoid unnecessary waits,’ said Andrew Fong who had been in the queue at Liverpool One shopping centre.

The release comes amid criticisms over Apple’s new operating system, iOS 7.

Some have deemed it too hard to navigate, while many others struggled to even download it.

Internet Star Grumpy Cat lands Cat Food deal

Internet star ‘Grumpy Cat’, real name Tardar Sauce, has become the official ‘spokescat’ for the St Louis-based company.

‘Enlisting the help of Grumpy Cat allows us to extend our reach to new cat owners,’ the firm’s brand manager Shawn Brain told the Post-Dispatch.

‘She, ironically, makes you smile seeing her face, even if you’re sick or having a bad day.’

The frown-faced feline from Phoenix became a global star last year when her owner, Tabatha Bundesen, posted her picture on bulletin board website Reddit.

Grumpy Cat has since become one the biggest stars on the internet, with a Facebook following topping one million.

The sourpuss has also featured in an online video game series, has her own merchandise line and there is even a reported movie deal in the pipeline.

‘She’s very busy,’ said Friskies spokeswoman Julie Catron said. ‘The first thing she’ll do for us is receive the lifetime achievement award.’

Grumpy Cat, who suffers from feline dwarfism, will pick up the accolade at a New York ceremony honouring the best cat videos online on October 15.

Beyoncé pulled off stage by crazy fan in Sao Paulo, Brazil

A Beyoncé fan went too far Sunday night, pulling the singer off the stage during her performance in Sao Paulo.

Security reacted promptly, quickly pulling Beyoncé back to the stage, but the situation had all the signs of turning ugly as the shirtless fan was forcefully escorted from the venue. The performer, though, reacted with grace and tact, calming the crowd and saying that "everything is all right."

In fact, the singer took it a step further, shaking hands with the fan, saying, "Thank you. I love you, too." The performance then continued with a huge approval of the crowd, who chanted "Beyoncé, Beyoncé."

Britain's Biggest Burger...

With a name like the Apocalypse Burger, there can be no coming back for anyone brave enough to tackle this giant meat feast.

Restaurant owners Dave Cossar and Justin Meaney might need some bigger plates after creating Britain’s biggest burger.

The 11kg (25lb) monster meal at JD’s Grill in Plymouth contains 25,000 calories and was created to celebrate the restaurant’s one-year anniversary.

It took three chefs six hours to prepare and cook the jumbo burger which contains £150 worth of ingredients.

‘The burger was originally created to celebrate our anniversary but we are looking at how we could put it on the menu,’ explained Mr Meaney.

‘We would have to find a way to bring the price down a little and make it easier to build and cook in the kitchen without compromising on the quality of the ingredients.’

He added: ‘We served it up to about 14 or 15 people and they absolutely loved it.

‘It was one massive burger, and a real sight to behold – but an hour later every last bite had gone.’

*Electric Zoo festival cancelled* after two people die.

The final day of Electric Zoo, an electronic music festival taking place in New York, has been cancelled after two festival goers died.

According to the New York Post, officials cancelled the event after a man and a woman died on Saturday (August 31) from unknown causes. However, local police say they believe the deaths were caused by ecstasy. A further four festival punters are in a critical condition in hospital.

A statement issued by New York officials read: "Due to serious health risks, the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall's Island on Sunday, September 1st has been cancelled. The City recommended cancellation and the event promoters have agreed.

"During the first two days of the Electric Zoo music festival, two concert-goers have died and at least four others became critically ill and have been placed in intensive care at area hospitals. Definitive causes of death have not yet been determined, however, both appear to have involved the drug MDMA (ecstasy, or molly). The Electric Zoo organizers have worked with City officials to reduce health risks at this event, but in view of these occurrences, the safest course is to cancel the remaining day of the event."

In a statement posted on the festival's official website, organisers added: "The founders of Electric Zoo send our deepest condolences to the families of the two people who passed away this weekend. Because there is nothing more important to us than our patrons, we have decided in consultation with the New York City Parks Department that there will be no show today."

 

Sunday's line-up would have featured performances from Diplo, Steve Aoki and Sebastian Ingrosso among others.

Shay Given close to completing Liverpool switch

Liverpool are closing in on signing their second goalkeeper of the summer as a deal for Aston Villa’s Shay Given nears completion.

The Irish stopper has been overtaken as the Villans’ no.1 by Brad Guzan over the past year and is now set to act as back-up for Simon Mignolet, who moved to Anfield earlier this summer.

The former Newcastle goalkeeper still has three years remaining on his Aston Villa contact and remains one of the highest earners in Paul Lambert’s young side, meaning Villans owner Randy Lerner would be keen to let Given depart.

He has also been linked with a host of loan moves this summer, with the likes of Doncaster Rovers – who have since signed Ross Turnbull – interested in his signature.

Teddy Bear beats World Record Skydiving

Many thought Felix Baumgartner’s world record feat of skydiving from the edge of space could never be beaten by another human being and they were probably right  - but nobody said anything about a teddy bear.

The toy, owned by balloonist David Akerman, managed to improve on Baumgartner’s record by 31 metres after falling from 39,000m.

Babbage the bear was guided up to the tremendous height by a weather balloon and then released by a Raspberry Pi computer it was being operated by.

Many thought Felix Baumgartner’s world record feat of skydiving from the edge of space could never be beaten by another human being and they were probably right  - but nobody said anything about a teddy bear.

The toy, owned by balloonist David Akerman, managed to improve on Baumgartner’s record by 31 metres after falling from 39,000m.

‘There was little wind at the launch site, and both payloads landed in fields within 100-200 metres of a road.

‘The only issue really was that as Babbage was descending we lost 3G as my SIM card ran out of credit! Fortunately we managed to add a top-up before we lost contact with Babbage.’

The toy’s flight was recorded by a camera attached to its shoulder which managed to catch striking images and video.