Australian shopper lines up for iPhone 6s with iPad-based telepresence robot

An Australian woman is using an iPad-equipped telepresence robot in Sydney to remotely secure her place in line for Apple's Friday launch of the highly anticipated iPhone 6s.

The robot is currently fourth in line at company's flagship Australian store in Sydney, Mashable said. The woman controlling it, Lucy Kelly, has also set up a tent with a charger to keep the robot functioning during the overnight wait. In the meantime she has been interacting with other people in line, some of whom have posed for photos with the robot.

Her employer — a media agency — owns six of the robots, and offered her one of them so that she could camp out for the phone and still do her job. The plan is to purchase an iPhone without human interaction, though Kelly did not tell Mashable how that would work, or how and when she would pick up the device.

The first person in line has been camped outside the store for 17 days. The wait is almost over though, as it's already early Friday morning in Sydney, and sales will begin at 8 a.m. local time.

Australia is one of 12 regions that will carry the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at launch. The others include Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.

Because online orders of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have already been pushed into October, the only way of securing one this weekend will likely involve visiting an Apple, carrier, or third-party retail store. Stock could quickly evaporate by the end of Friday, if not mid-day.