So here we are.. finally the much awaited iPhone is to be launched in INDIA tomorrow. Just like everyone i was also excited to get my hands on an iPhone. But i am very much disappointed after airtel and vodafone announced their iPhone prices.
31K for an 8Gb model and 36K for a 16Gb model. It strange to know that the same iPhone is $199 in US which comes to around Rs.8600/- only. Adding to the list of negatives, There is no 3G in India. US citizens enjoy the speed of 3G but still they pay less!! The service provider situation is no different from US. The iPhone we are going to get in India is also a locked one. U cannot use anyother SIM other than airtel's on ur airtel-iPhone, its locked to the service provider (God knows for how long.. they haven't revealed it yet).
The SMS interface adds to the woes of the iPhone in the Indian market. we people are used to texting.. so getting used to an on-screen keypad is going to take sometime. We indians are so used to Bluetooth file sharing between phones. But sadly the iPhone doesnt have this feature in it!! So putting it all together, we Indians are not going to use/exploit all the features on the iPhone.. Then why such a high price?
It's a known fact that SPs in India cannot benefit from value added services like SPs in US.. but still SP's in India hope to get revenue from value added services by locking the iPhone to their SIM. The hardware cost of iPhone comes to Rs.22K.. So an unlocked iPhone should not cost you more than 25K.. Hope they realize this with time and the prices are slashed soon.
8 comments:
I agree that 31k is too much....but stil u cant compare it with $199.....as that plan comes with at&t connection with its own terms and conditions (its actually subsidised by at&t).
so if u take a cell there and even if u dont use it u will have to pay. i hope these conditins wont be there in india :)
31k was waaay two much agreed, but you cant convert 199$ directly to Indian Rupees and expect them to sell it at that rate.
3G: Actually you are mistaken about that. 3G is on its way here in India. But in reality who will be using it is the question as it would be mainly for guys who would like to view videos and surf net at higher speeds even while on the move.
SMS on screen interface..... You knew it was a touchscreen phone. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU EXPECTING???? Voice to text conversion!!!! That I disagree...
NO Bluetooth. Well it does have Wifi doesnt it??? So you still have one form of wireless connectivity. That too a higher datarate one might I add.
On the whole NO bluetooth No Video Capture No FM.. Reminds me of something ;-)
Classic case of "Pot calling Kettle Black...."
P.S: Nice one calling the Blog a Pensieve though...
iPhone is total crap..
AT&T actually gets Iphone at a cost of 399$ and gives to customer @ $199. This is subsidised price given out by AT&T, and they charge extra call charges if your take a connection with iphone and that's how they get back the money. This not going to work in india. But in india it is even more.. god knows why..
No bluetooth, No video recording, bull shit! On screen keyboard sucks! other than the good touch screen, safari browser nothing is good.. You need to have your thumb is strange awkward position to scroll!! LOL!! You get iTouch diamond for lesser money which is an amazing phone.. So please don't go for iphone crap and regret later..
Let's dump iphone !! MAC is worse then Microsoft!
one suggestion : White text on a blackground is really eye straining.. change it!
Some more points.... The camera in iPhone sucks.. Its almost like a VGA camera.. The mobiles in India have a far superior camera... iphone does not support video recording!!
@phenom, Wifi is definitely not a substitute for bluetooth. I don't think wifi is that common in India yet. You just meet some friend and you want to sync something, where will you search for free wifi? 3G is on the way to India? When will it reach India? 3G has a lot of problems even in the U.S and it has been a total failure so far.. Few links...
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200808211240DOWJONESDJONLINE000724_FORTUNE5.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/21/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main4369409.shtml
http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/08/21/apple-claims-iphone-os-202-3g-fix-users-mixed/
Fake queues??? :o
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/iPhone-Poland-Launch-Used-Lines-of-Actors-to-Hide-Weak-Demand/
Unfortunately its true that there were fake queues outside some iPhone stores in India on the night of Aug 21.. it was in the papers they very next day.. just like china had volunteers to fill up the unoccupied seats during the opening ceremony of the beijing olympics..
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