'A computer in your pocket'.

Byline: Clint Swett

Jun. 28--At 37, commercial mortgage broker Tony Peric means business, yet he's considering setting up camp outside an AT&T Wireless store this week in hopes of snagging an iPhone.

"I usually wait six months to a year (when buying a new gadget) to make sure the bugs are worked out," the Natomas resident said. Since late last year, however, when rumors began swirling about a new cell phone/music player/Internet device from Apple Inc., Peric has positioned this gadget atop his technolust list.

The same goes for Cesar Altamirano, a 25-year-old graphic designer in Sacramento. He and three friends plan on setting up lawn chairs Friday outside the Apple store at Arden Fair in hopes of buying one of the devices.

"This is the first phone I've seen that will fit my lifestyle and integrate everything I want to do," he said.

Even by Apple's lofty standards, the buzz surrounding the iPhone is unprecedented. Would-be buyers are already lining up. If you're planning to be among the first in the queue, be advised that the Apple store plans to close at 2 p.m. and reopen at 6 p.m. to begin sales and AT&T stores will close at 4:30 p.m. and reopen at 6 p.m.

A spokesman for AT&T, which has an exclusive deal to be the iPhone's cellular carrier, reports that more than 1 million people have left requests for further information at the company's Web site.

And M:Metrics, a Seattle-based company that studies the mobile phone market, found that as many as 17 million U.S. cell phone users would be strongly interested in buying an iPhone.

All this for a device that could cost up to $600, plus at least $60 a month for air time and Internet use.

"There's…