AUBURN – The launch of Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone hadn’t inspired long lines locally as of Thursday – only phone calls.

Nancy Brown, assistant manager at AT&T’s company store on Center Street in Auburn, doesn’t expect crowds when the gadgets go on sale at 6 p.m. today, but she plans to be busy.

“We’re getting ready,” Brown said. “People have been calling all week to see if we’ll have any. Everybody in the country seems to be very excited, with all of the advertising.”

Nationally, the iPhone’s unveiling was hyped like a new Harry Potter book for grown-up geeks. Fans from New York to San Francisco have been camping out since Tuesday, waiting for a chance to get their hands on one.

It’s more than a simple mobile phone, according to AT&T spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon.

“It’s something else entirely: the most revolutionary phone in history,” MacKinnon said. “From college students to CEOs, a lot of different people are going to want this.”

It combines Apple’s popular iPod and iTunes service with cell phone service, a camera and an always-on Internet connection wrapped in glossy, bleeding-edge technology.

Reviewers are hyping the phone’s touch screen, which allows users to type e-mail on a virtual keyboard or browse through their music collections with the flick of a finger. Sensors in the phone orient the screen to match the way it’s being held. That lets users hold it horizontally to watch a You Tube clip and then switch to telephone mode simply by holding it up to an ear.

The phone has built-in Wi-Fi, which permits wireless connection to networks at public hot spots such as libraries and coffee shops. It also uses two types of mobile phone standards, GSM and AT&T’s Edge, which allow it to surf the Internet away from Wi-Fi hot spots.

A two-year service contract is required for the device. None of the phone’s features – not the Wi-Fi connection, the iTunes or anything else – will work without an AT&T contract.

“Otherwise, it’s a paperweight,” MacKinnon said. “It was designed to work on the AT&T network.”

The Auburn store is the only place within 20 miles of the Twin Cities that will sell the phones. It will close at 4:30 p.m. today to give staff 90 minutes to set up the iPhone displays. The store will reopen at 6 p.m. to begin selling the hand-size electronics priced at $499 for four gigabytes of storage capacity and $599 for eight gigabytes.

Dead spots

Wayne Jortner of the state’s Office of the Public Advocate, said new buyers should try the phone out before they commit. The iPhone, like AT&T’s other cell-phone offerings, relies on a GSM network for wireless communication. That’s the most popular type of cell-phone service in the world, but not in Maine.

Most companies rely on older standards in Maine, Jortner said. Most, including AT&T, are building GSM networks in Maine.

“Cell-phone coverage in Maine is fairly fluid right now,” he said. “I know that most companies are spending a lot of money expanding their GSM networks, and that could mean better coverage – especially in rural areas. But right now, people should test any network before they commit.”

AT&T is offering a 14-day trial for iPhone users, MacKinnon said. They will be charged a 10 percent restocking fee if they return the phone in an opened box.

She said the company has confidence in its network.

“In Portland, no network is more reliable than AT&T’s GSM network,” she said.

She referred everyone else to the company’s coverage viewer on its Web site, www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer.

The viewer shows strong AT&T coverage for most of Lewiston and good coverage for most of Auburn, but service drops off north of Lake Auburn and Stetson Road in Lewiston.

Apple’s iPhone

Size: 4.5 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.4 inches

Screen size: 3.5 inches by 2.2 inches (about the size of a credit card)

Weight: 4.8 ounces (slightly less than a baseball)

Price: $499 for a 4 GB phone; $599 for an 8 GB phone

Service Plans: Start at $59 per month

Service coverage: Check signal strength for your neighborhood online at www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer