Its finally official that the iPhone 3G version will be launched in India on August 22^nd. The earlier announced dates were in September but Airtel and Vodafone can wait to launch the same. They are obviously running a virtual race with each other to hit the market. My guess is that next they will be in a race to start advertising for the iphone before each other and try and gain maximum from the brand association with an iconic brand like iPhone and Apple. Given that the price of the iPhone in India is going to be in the range of Rs. 20,000 and it would probably be cheaper to buy an unlocked version from the “street” and put in your existing sim card, not sure how many people will actually buy this TOY.

Technical Specs of iPhone 3G expected to be launched in India:

Size and weight / Dimensions of iPhone 3G in India

Height       :       115.5 mm

Width         :       62.1 mm

Depth        :       12.3 mm

Weight      :       133 grams

Capacity of iPhone 3G in India

• 8GB or 16GB flash drive

Cellular and wireless compatibility of iPhone 3G in India

• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Whats in the iPhone 3G box (could change here)

• iPhone 3G
• Stereo Headset with mic
• Dock Connector to USB Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Documentation
• Cleaning/polishing cloth
• SIM eject tool

Screen Display of iPhone 3G

• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi

Camera of iPhone 3G

• 2.0 megapixels

Battery Usage of iPhone 3G

• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
• Talk time.

Up to 5 hours on 3G

Up to 10 hours on 2G

• Standby time: Up to 300 hours
• Internet use:

Up to 5 hours on 3G

Up to 6 hours on Wi-Fi

• Video playback: Up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 24 hours

If you use it for Email on Iphone 3G: Mail attachment support

• Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Nokia in India must be also wondering what will be the impact of the iPhone in India. Will the expensive phone users move in large numbers to iPhone? Looks very unlikely as Nokia has a strong product range ready to take on the iPhone and other smart phones.

One such phone from Nokia is the Nokia E71.

Technical Specifications of the Nokia E71 in India

Dimensions of the Nokia E71: 114 x 57 x 10 mm

Weight :       127 Gms

Screen Size :       320 x 240 pixels, 2.36 inches

Memory :       110 MB internal memory with SD card slot

Wifi :       Yes

3G ready :       Yes

Camera :       3.15 megapixel

Talk Time :       10 Hours

Stand By Time:   410 hours

Just that the E71 has a QWERTY keyboard and the iPhone has a touch screen. Not sure of the touch screen is really good for SMS friendly Indians.

So we shall all wait for the 22^nd of August for the launch of the iPhone and see if there is the same frenzy we saw in the USA.

Other Interesting Blogs links:

MyBandra Home Page, Bandra Worli Sea Link, Bollywood, Proactive Citizens of Bandra.

There is a lot of news and buzz around the Iphone and Iphone 3G launch these days. Its coming from two different places. The world is preparing itself for a huge Iphone 3G launch which is due on the 11^th of July. We in India are bracing ourselves for the Iphone launch in September.

Vodafone has announced it plan to launch Iphone in India and so have Bharti - Airtel. Some news reports have indicated that they are planning to launch the Iphone 3G in September itself. It would be great to get these fancy phones in India. Iv have been a user of the itouch Wifi for a few months and it’s a great experience to use the fancy device. It not too difficult to find wifi hotspots in Bandra but I find most of them are locked or too slow making internet access fairly useless on it.

Hopefully Airtel and Vodafone plan the launch well and ensure that the internet speeds on the devices are not as slow as the current GPRS connections they provide. The speeds have improved by we all agree that they can be better. In Bandra we all know that there are some places where the signal really drops. I know of some spots on Pali Hill where the signal used to drop and if you were talking and drove past that area the call would drop. Even on the Mahim Causeway the signal tends to be thin.

So whats so special about the Iphone and the Iphone 3G. It’s the entire experience of handling a superbly designed product that takes care of all your entertainment and communication needs. It allows you to add third party applications (much like facebook) and that’s what makes it special. Also the visual experience of using the internet is much better than the small screen wonders we call mobiles these days.

Airtel has already started taking “advance booking” for the iphone so in case this is something you want to do click here. And for Vodafone click here.

Here are some photos and videos to give a flavour of what on the way.

 Find out who is selling the iphone in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz.