CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) - The lines formed early at Apple stores across the Delaware Valley, as people queued-up to be the first to get the new iPhone 4S.

file photo (credit: Apple)

The crowd of about 50 cheered as the doors to the Apple store opened at 8 am.  For Joe Lombardo of Maple Shade, camping overnight for the new iPhone 4S is an opportunity to score the latest smartphone, and it’s a social event.

“You make friends, everybody’s pretty fun. This guy right here, Marco, he’s a good friend of mine.  I met him last year in line for the (iPhone) 4.  So we just come out and do it every year, just to hang out.”

Marco Tornari of Cherry Hill says he wouldn’t miss it.

“It’s tradition.  Every year I always upgrade.  So I just want to keep up with tradition.  This is a great phone.  It’s a good upgrade.”

Marco likes the new voice recognition and faster processor on the 4S:

“It’s a really good feature, it’s voice command where you can do so many things, and that’s what really sold me. It also has an 8MP camera, so that’s another great thing about it.”

He says it’s well worth losing a night’s sleep to be the first to have one.

Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio