Homeless being paid to camp out for iPhone 5C, 5S in L.A.
Several homeless people were being paid to stand in line Friday in Pasadena for the release of the iPhone 5C and 5S, CBS Los Angeles reports.
The phones went on sale at Apple and other retail stores at 8 a.m.
Pasadena police told KNX 1070's Jon Baird that many people in line at the Colorado Boulevard store were recruited from downtown Los Angeles.
"I was asked yesterday if I would be willing to sit in line for someone so they could get a phone. I said 'Sure, I've got nothing else to do.' So I'm here," Mickie, who was driven from the Midnight Mission area along with 10 others, said.
It was unclear how much Mickie was being compensated, however, others in line said they were being paid as little as $35 to wait in line for hours.
"They dropped us, sit in line, get the vouchers and then we'll be paid," she added.
Vouchers were given out at 6 a.m. to those in line.
"It's just something you need to have," fan Francisco Naranjo, who began camping Sunday night outside of the company's Pasadena store, said.
The iPhone 5C will be available in five colors -- green, blue, yellow, pink and white.
CEO Tim Cook calls it "more fun and colorful" than any other iPhone. The 5C has a 4-inch Retina display and is powered by Apple's A6 chip. It also has an 8 megapixel camera, live photo filters and a rear cover that lights up.
The iPhone 5C will cost $99 for a 16 gigabyte model and $199 for a 32 gigabyte model with a two-year wireless contract.
The company will also release a more expensive model, the iPhone 5S, in three colors - black, silver and gold. The device ranges from $199 to $399, depending on the amount of memory.
"It has a new fingerprint reader so it's going to be able to lock your phone and other features. It's going to have a faster processor, it's going to be a faster phone," Naranjo said.
The new phones were available online at 12:01 a.m.