Apple has brought in a new lottery system for iPhone reservations following the incident that happened during the iPhone 4S launch in Mainland China. Apple hopes that through this system the company will be able to deter those pesky scalpers which engage in reselling the handset at far more higher price. The online store for Hong Kong now has a new page where users are required to submit their personal information, including a government-issued ID number, to reserve an iPhone.

This new lottery system users to request a device during a three-hour time period each day, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Those who are given a reservation will be notified about the same via email before 9 p.m. along with instructions as to what time they should come to pick up the phone. Earlier reservations for iPhone 4S were previously awarded to individuals on a first-come, first-served basis. But scalpers abused that system by making automated programs to secure iPhone 4S reservations as soon as they were made available.
[9 to 5 mac]