 | Pricing No A2DP Incomplete GPS Basic Features Missing Still no 3G |
It’s been a long time coming. Sure, we’ve had the first-gen iPhone in India in some form or the other ever since it launched in the US, but hey, “official” is always better than “nothing official”. Let’s dive into Apple’s coolness box and see what the iPhone 3G, which is available in India starting Aug. 22nd, brings to the table.
For your convenience, and to make it snappy, we’ve skipped the parts which are similar from the first-gen iPhone to the new 3G variant, you can read a review of the last iPhone here . We’ve split the review into four parts. First, we answer a few basic questions you might have, second, obviously, are the “Good Bits”, then some “Bad Bits”, and finally, the “whys” behind the Rating / Conclusion.
For those of you who are in a hurry to get a confirmation on the prices, our original article about the iPhone pricing was right. Yes, the iPhone is priced at a hefty Rs. 31,000 for the 8GB version, and Rs. 36,100 for the 16GB version. Obviously, that also means you get it without any contract or postpaid plan whatsoever. You can use it with either a Prepaid or a Postpaid SIM card, and pick absolutely any plan you like (though Vodafone and Airtel may also launch some iPhone specific plans as well).
Sadly, the phone is going to be operator-locked. So, if you buy an iPhone 3G from Airtel, you can’t use it on Vodafone, and vice versa. It goes without saying that using it on any other GSM network isn’t possible, so those of you on IDEA, BSNL or any other provider will have to wait a long time till you can get an official iPhone that runs on your network without any hacks.
The iPhone will be sold at Airtel and Vodafone stores nationwide, and some Apple Exclusive resellers may also stock it. From what information we’ve been able to gather, the quantity of iPhones coming to India is pretty small as compared to the demand that the operators have gauged with their Pre-Booking offers, so expect it to be sold out pretty fast, regardless of the price, unless Apple increases their shipments to India (which I am sure they will, once they see the demand).
We also have a confirmation on the fact that iPhone’s cool value added, but operator dependent feature, Visual Voicemail, will not be launching in India. Also, the iTunes store will only work for Application Downloads (i.e. App Store), and will not allow users to buy Music, Videos or Movies just about yet. Obviously, you’ll need an Indian credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express) to sign up for iTunes to download applications, even those that are free.
That’s enough of the FAQs, now let’s get down to the good bits on the new iPhone 3G. Move to the next page to continue reading more.
