Some iPhone 4 shipments arrive early from Apple [u]

A number of people received their iPhone 4 shipment early on Tuesday — two days before the handset's official launch — and managed to successfully activate the device [Updated].

One California attorney wrote on Twitter Tuesday that he received his iPhone. Gil Cabrera said he received a message that read "Your iPhone activation session has expired" upon attempting to activate the handset through iTunes.

Cabrera posted photos of the device, proving he had it in hand. But the smartphone could not be taken past a screen requiring it be tethered to a computer via USB and connected to iTunes.

"Don't be so jealous," he wrote in reply to another Twitter use. "Can't activate the damn thing!"

Update: Apple support helped the user to activate his iPhone 4. Some others have also had successful activations.

"Apple Rep just got me activated," he wrote. "Had to restart my computer (felt like I had a windows machine for a minute) and presto!"

The pictures show the same box photographed earlier Tuesday at a Walmart storehouse. The early delivery would also seem to confirm that Apple has not placed a hold on shipping as it has done in the past, suggesting that the e-mails sent out by Apple Tuesday including a June 23 arrival date were accurate, and many will receive their iPhone a day before the June 24 launch.