IT IS not officially here yet, and there is no warranty given for repairs.

But Apple's much-hyped iPhone is finding buyers among early-adopter geeks who will pay $800 to $1,500 in the grey market for the latest show-off gizmo.

The phone, which will officially ship in Asia only next year, costs a lot more here than the US$399 (S$579) in American stores.

But geeks are splashing out the cash because the versions sold here have been 'hacked' or modified by parallel importers so they can log on to cellphone networks here.

The iPhone, sold in the United States and Europe so far, has been hyped up as the next big thing because of a 'multi-touch' screen that lets users zoom in on a picture or webpage by simply moving their fingers. This lets users view items more easily on a small screen.

In exclusive deals with cellphone operators like AT&T in the US, Apple installs software on its iPhones to make them log on only to its partners' networks.

But as expected, this did not stop hackers from writing software code to 'unlock' the iPhone and make it work with any mobile network. This means a user of a modified iPhone can slot in his SIM card, like with any other phone, and use it.

Some retailers, like Royal Plus Pacific at Sim Lim Square, say they have been selling 20 iPhones a day, making the gizmo a best seller.

Though it is unclear how many such iPhones have been sold here, the handful of retailers in Sim Lim Square, Funan the Digitalife Mall and Far East Plaza, have reported brisk business. Some Singaporeans have also bought the iPhone overseas.

Apple does not provide support for such users, who have bought some 250,000 unlocked iPhones worldwide.
And in a new bid to stamp out the grey market last week, Apple now lets each person buy only two - instead of the previous five - iPhones.

The strong interest from consumers comes despite experts warning of the end of the iPhone 'honeymoon'.
They say that despite selling 1.4 million iPhones since June, Apple still does not support increasingly common 3.5G mobile networks that can download songs, movies and e-mail several times faster.