Cupertino (CA) - Retail store across the US and around the world have received the first iPhone 3G demo units and oversized iPhone window displays ahead of the official handset launch Friday morning.  Three days before official iPhone 3G launch, the two respective retail chains and international carriers in 22 countries have received iPhone 3G demo units today. Portuguese iPhone forum (translated by Google Translate) first posted demo units unboxing images, followed by the Gadget to Mac website that published additional pictures of the demo units for the Swiss retail stores, already installed and fixed in place inside the store.

Leaked AT&T sales document reveals that employees will tether demo units to iTunes the day before the launch to complete the activation. On the launch day morning employees are to download applications from the App Store. Demo units are intended to showcase iPhone 3G capabilities, including the App Store application store that Apple pitches as an important killer features. Besides display units that will be fixed in place, each store gets two additional floating units carried by employees for un-tethered demonstration.

Apple and AT&T retail stores have also received oversized iPhone 3G store displays that have already been installed in the 5th Avenue Apple Store window. These oversized iPhone mock-ups are showing video demonstrations of the iPhone 3G capabilities on its huge screen. These are essentially the same window displays that were used for the original iPhone launch but with the updated iPhone 3G black casing. Apple and AT&T will open doors to eager customers Friday morning, 8 AM sharp.  At some locations, people have already begun lining up for the next generation phone.

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