For the third consecutive summer, Apple rolled out a new phone, and for the third consecutive summer, crowds headed out to buy it - though the turn out was not as large in number as they had in the past.

The iPhone 3G S, went on sale Friday morning in eight countries, including the U.S. However, crowds were smaller than expected especially, when it came to lining up overnight, according to several reports.

Inspite of a lower turnout, several AT&T stores are reporting that they have sold out of the new iPhone.

According to information posted on AppleInsider, one buyer was told at a Manhattan AT&T store that he bought the last iPhone 3G S in the shop at about 7:50 a.m., less than an hour after it went on sale for the public. That store, and other metro AT&T stores, reportedly received only 60 of the new iPhones each and said they won't get new stock for another five days.

However, there have been no reports of Apple's own stores running low or running out of the 3G S.

Meanwhile, analysts have predicted that about 500,000 Apple iPhone 3G S smartphones would be sold this weekend, roughly half the amount of iPhone 3G models that were sold after that device launched in July 2008.

The new iPhone 3G S, which was unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last week, adds a host of new features and functions to the hardware.

The 3G S version comes equipped with a 3-megapixel camera with video capturing and editing capabilities, improved battery life with up to 12 hours of talk time and 30 hours of audio, voice-command control, and a built-in digital compass.

The new iPhone launched in two models, the $199 16-GB and the $299 32-GB.

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