PHOTOS: Lines in Columbia to Get the iPhone 5

Apple stores and phone stores across the country saw a wave of excited "techies" Friday morning, as they hoped to get their hands on the brand new iPhone 5, and Howard County was no different.

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People were lined up more than an hour before the Verizon store at Snowden Square opened at 8 a.m., and more than 200 people have reportedly shown up at the Apple store in the Mall in Columbia.

Emo Sowho, of Silver Spring, hit the day early and caught a ride with his friend, Bellah Morfaw, just to make the switch over from his old phone.

"I don't really do the early morning standing-in-line-and-waiting thing," Sowho said from the Verizon store. "But since I have a Blackberry, it's probably worth it."

He said he has never stood in line first thing in the morning for anything, but the iPhone 5 is worth it. He won't even let people touch it for some time, he joked.

"Not until the hype cools down," Sowho said.

This is his first Apple product, and he said it could take some time to become acquainted with the software. He eventually walked out of the store with a white iPhone 5, but walked back into the store when the phone said, "Log into the iTunes Store."

Morfaw laughed as Sowho worked his way around the Apple programs still foreign to him.

"I'm trying to convert him [to Apple]," Morfaw said.

Both of them said they don't plan on waking up early when the next generation of iPhone comes out, whenever that may be.

Dana Molyneaux, of Elkridge, said she was the 13th customer, and she showed up before 7 a.m.

She has never stood in line for the first-day sale of an item, but she is a shopping warrior of sorts.

"I'm a crazy Black Friday shopper, and I wake up early anyway to go to work, so it wasn't that big of a deal to get up," Molyneaux said.

She says she's happy she has the day off of work so she could get her hands on one, and she was out of the store before 9 a.m.

Here's where you can scoop the phone on Friday in Howard County:

Columbia

Apple Store - Columbia Mall

• Open Friday at 8 a.m., mall will be open at 6 a.m.
• Contact: 410-423-1801

Verizon Wireless - BJ's - 9011 Snowden River Pkwy

• Open Friday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
• Contact: 410-872-9270

Verizon Wireless at Columbia - 9021 Snowden Square Dr.

• Open Friday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.
• Contact: 410-872-7200

AT&T Wireless - Columbia Mall

• Open Friday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
• Contact: 410-992-3807

AT&T Wireless - 6490 Dobbin Center Way

• Open Friday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
• Contact: 410-992-0223

Sprint Wireless - 6435 Dobbin Road Ste B8

• Open Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
• Contact: 410-740-8250

Ellicott City

AT&T Wireless - 9051 Baltimore National Pike

• Will not have iPhone 5 available immediately, according to an employee, already pre-sold their first shipment.