Ukraine man changes his name to iPhone 7 to win the smartphone

A man from Ukraine changed his name to iPhone 7 after an electronics store promised to offer the handset to the first five people who did that.

The 20-year-old man, whose original name is Olexander Turin, changed his name to iPhone Sim (Seven). He said he might change his name back to the original when he has children. The iPhone 7 is available for purchase starting $850 (£697) in Ukraine, whereas the name change just costs $2.

Tetyana Panina, his sister, told the Associated Press: "It was difficult to accept that and hard to believe it's true. Each person in this world is looking for a way to express himself. Why not to do that in this way?"

Apple fans' craze over the iPhone 7 is nothing new. To be one of the first people in the world to own an iPhone 7, 30-year-old man Tom Thaphaengphan travelled all the way from Bangkok to Sydney. He joined the queue at the flagship George Street Apple store at 2pm on 15 September.

He said it was cold overnight and then there was early morning rain, but it was all worth waiting. "Yes, of course I'm happy," said Thaphaengphan.

Two people from Singapore were arrested on 16 September for breaking airport laws and charged under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act. The duo allegedly thought of a new way of jumping the queue and saving money, by buying plane tickets so that they could get the iPhone 7 at Changi Airport.