Is iPhone a Boon or Bane for India

We are back. That's the loud and clear message from Cupertino. Apple earlier shaking the world with it's iPod now clearly is shaking the world with the new Apple iPhone. And in it's newest 3G avatar, has it got the potential to do the difference or make an impact in India? Let us see what it really has to offer to the Indians.

The Hype

Essentially, the key element to a products success and failure. More the justification of a hype, more is the appreciation and thus profits of the product. Apple had created a lot of excitement in India before it's latest launch in India and the new price reductions in the US really meant a whole lot more fun for the Indians. But it was a short lived joy. Estimates had predicted a sale of nearly 10,000 iPhones in the first month after the launch. But the excitement soon fizzled out due to exorbitant prices charged by the providers Airtel and Vodafone (Wish BSNL was there too) and iPhone hardly sold a 1,000 units in India. Too bad for such a dream gadget. Partly because of the greed of the Indian government to make higher tax money from it and partly from the service providers so that they could benefit from the good margin. Thus all the great anticipation and excitement went down hard enough for Apple to take a beating from it. Although the iPod Touch really became a huge hit in India.

The Inside Power

An iPhone right now in India is more like a BMW on the Indian streets; full of style, class and pride! The Apple iPhone offered Multi-touch support on a 3.5 inch high resolution screen which the new one also offers. The new Apple iPhone 3G other than the obvious introduction of 3G has a lot more. But since India is yet to see 3G auctions, this feature more or less goes right into the drain. The other new introductions are the new Firmwares and the inclusion of the new App Store. Designated to make your life easily, there are many Apps to choose from and range from free to highly priced piece of creations. Although the restriction limits a lot more applications but still it's a novel concept. Performance is top class due to the inbuilt Mac OSX operating system which is quite snappy and cool. The 2MP camera is quite disappointing for a novelty like this. Other than that it features the fully loaded Safari browser and other built in Mac applications to add to your ease. Although you still cannot edit your Office documents in this one as of yet. Music and Video quality is typical Apple and great. But rather than all this, what does it really have for the Indians?

The Desi Impact

• First of all, one's biggest deterrent will have to be the locking of the SIM card to the specific provider. We Indians usually love to interchange between different providers whichever is the best but this beauty surely keeps you at bay from this.
• Next, you have the lack of SMS Forwarding, Copying options and FM radio which means most Indians will have to give this a miss. The first and the last are almost essential features in every phone for every Indian.
• The next problem is the lack of 3G support in India till now which means the new tag of Apple iPhone 3G is more or less useless.
• Lack of high Google Maps support as in the US in India also adds to Indian woes.
• When the battery goes down, it means you need to go to Apple and surrender your phone to them till the time they don't finish work and that means you are without your life support (at least for Indians).
• High price means that after seeing all the drawbacks, it makes sure that you don't buy this device at all.

So eventually, what matters is how much the drawbacks are going to affect the person's life. Right now, the Apple iPhone is more like a fashion statement than anything else in India. If you are a college goer or a young dynamic youth, then the iPhone is for you but if you are a tech freak and want only the best, then you are in for a huge disappointment. So the Doctor has advised some CAUTION pills at the moment.