…Clueless

From what I saw on Zee Business, the iPhone is to be launched in India by Airtel on the 22nd of August. They also telecast a telephonic interview with some president of Airtel who confirmed that there would be no subsidy on the iPhone.

That final statement alone is a deal breaker for me. 3G is a long way to come. Free WiFi is not a realistic option. EDGE is really crappy in its current form. What is the use for a device whose USP is its ablity to connect to the Internet but has no means to do so in India? And now that Airtel has confirmed that there is going to be no subsidy, I can safely say that we must forget about getting the iPhone for anywhere around Rs. 8000 to 12000. Not that I’m dying to. Get realistic people. Buy an E71.

I was surfing the Internet when I came across another piece of news which suggests that iPhone will be launched in India on the 18th of August, 3 days after the Independence Day.

Vodafone will be joining the iPhone bash earlier than Airtel. The iPhone wll be available exclusively on Vodafone for the first fifteen days.

Source :

• India to Get iPhone 3G on August 18
• Vodafone To Beat Airtel To iPhone 3G Launch; Expected Next Month

One of my friends went over to the Vodafone store in Sector 19, Chandigarh yesterday. He wanted to book the iPhone. They asked him to send a message to a number (Airtel and Vodafone have been playing this stupid booking game since long) which I think is kind of an alert service since they have not asked for any booking amount.

Now, on to the main news. The sales representive told my friend that the iPhone would be priced at INR 8000. Yes, Rs. 8000 which almost equals to $199. Airtel hasn’t confirmed anything about their pricing. I highly doubt what the Vodafone people are saying. The iPhone has to be imported. Where do they include the duties etc in the price? And what use is a 3G device which mainly boasts of a rich internet experience when even their existing EDGE network is shitty and expensive with no good unlimited browsing plans.

But if it does indeed launch at Rs. 8000 then there’s nothing like it in the market. I would definitely not be one of the early adopters. I’ll just fiddle with the iPhone that someone buys and make up my mind if it’s really worth getting into a contract that would surely be expensive.

My only motive of buying the iPhone would be the rich Internet browsing it’s browser offers. I’m not in for the memory, the iPod etc. It’s just the phone and the Internet on the move.

Another news that was given to my friend was that the phone would be launched when the next month commences, i.e. August.

That’s all the news I have about the iPhone due to be launched on Vodafone and Airtel in India. Gotta hand it to Apple, they manage to create an amazing hype. People don’t even know what the iPhone is and are already dying to own one.

UPDATE: iPhone to be launched on August 18th, 2008 in India. Vodafone gets a head start over Airtel.