Iphone launch date & price revealed by Vodafone

I don’t have time to write about it right now, so just attaching mail from Vodafone. In the mean time Airtel already announced launch date to be on August 22nd, but it has not announced price yet. I will write a detailed article about whether to go for iphone or not shortly.

Hello Prashanth,

Thank you for registering for your Apple iPhone 3G™ with us.

We are delighted to announce that the iPhone 3G will be available in India from August 22, 2008 It will be available in 8GB & 16GB models, priced at Rs 31,000 and Rs 36,100 respectively.

Be the first to get the iPhone

We have received a large number of registrations. As there are limited stocks, make sure that you get yours first, by paying an advance of Rs 10,000 to confirm your booking.

Where can you make this advance payment?

The iPhone 3G will be available at select Vodafone Stores. All you need to do is drop in at any select Vodafone Store between August 20 and 21 and make the advance payment by cash or credit card. Don´t forget to show the iPhone booking SMS, which you would have received from us, when you visit the Vodafone Store to pay the advance. To find a Vodafone Store near you, click here

Get an appointment now. No queues for you.

Once you pay the advance, we will immediately give you an appointment date and time, starting August 22 when you can come and experience a full demonstration and collect your iPhone, all ready to use with your contacts and settings, by paying the balance amount.

Hurry! Limited stocks.

Remember, the sooner you confirm your booking, the earlier you´ll get your iPhone. We have limited stocks and it will be on first come, first serve basis.

Happy to help

If you have any queries, log on to www.vodafone.in/iphone or call Vodafone Care on 111 (toll free) and we´ll be happy to help.

Hurry and be one of the first to make the iPhone 3G your own.

Regards

C P Joshi

AVP - Customer Service

Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed

Hope you are not getting bored reading too much about iPhone. It’s my duty to update my visitors with whatever update I have. So, there are some strong rumors about iPhone & Airtel. One of my friend updated my last week that he spoke to some Airtel guy who is knowledgeable. He told that Airtel is trying to launch iPhone in India in August first week. The price is expected to be around Rs.25,000.

I heard it $199, why Rs.25k here?

Yes, this might be a question in everyone’s mind who is interested in iPhone. In US you can get iPhone 8 GB model for $199 & 16 GB model at $299. But the catch here is you have to sign a two years contract with AT & T, a popular service provider in US. AT & T has a special service plans for iPhone, so you end up paying more for service rather than phone. So, now you know how the Apple kept iPhone price so low. It’s actually subsidized by AT & T. Apple iPhone is also available without contract also in US, but the price is different. price of Apple iPhone without contract in US is $499 & $599 respectively for 8 GB & 16 GB models. We don’t have contract system in India, so price is gonna be high here. According my knowledge you can use iPhone with your existing pre-paid or post-paid plans. 

Is iPhone worth that much?

If you keep touch aside & think about features, it’s not worth that much. For the same price you can go for other options like HTC Touch, Nokia N95, Nokia N82…etc. Nokia higher end N series phones comes with 5 MP camera, Satellite GPS, 8GB memory…etc Comparatively these phones offer you better features than iPhone. Also on iPhone you can install applications built using iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) & for many apps you might have to pay. But on these phones there are thousands of applications available for free to install. But the ease of using touchscreen outsmarts every other phone. So think smart before taking any decision, because everyone’s needs are different.

Another quick update: Airtel too joins Vodafone for Pre-registering iPhone in India. You can book yours online at http://www.airtel.in/iphone3g. Both Vodafone & Airtel are tight lipped about when they are going to launch & price. But it seems to be in near future.

I will be sending these kind of quick updates on SMS! you can subscribe by sending JOIN TECHB to 567678. SMS might cost you Rs.3 to Rs.5, but it’s only one time you have to send. You can also subscribe to this SMS updates online at http://www.smsgupshup.com/groups/TECHB

A quick update: I was shocked to see iPhone ad by Vodafone on TOI yesterday. Now Vodafone has started bookings for iPhone. If you are a Vodafone subscriber, you can send an SMS as IPHONE to 56789 to book an iPhone! You can also book your iPhone online at Vodafone website. But there is no announcement of 3G service by Vodafone. Vodafone website also says “Currently compatible only with 2G networks. Only select features and services are currently available in India”. Vodafone has not yet made any announcement on price, plans & features. I also tried calling Vodafone customer care, but they know just as much as I know. So, we will have to wait until Vodafone makes any further announcement. i will post here as soon as I get any info

I am the big time fan of Apple iPhone. But these days I started hating Apple, arrey how many days I have to wait to get this cool gadget? I really felt bad about Apple for delaying release of iPhone to India. From past few days I am hearing lot of buzz about Airtel & Vodafone releasing iPhone in India. After Apple’s announcement about it’s upgraded 3G version of iphone, Airtel & Vodafone both said they are going to release iPhone to India soon!

A popular tech news website Techtree wrote that, Vodafone is going to start booking for iPhones through customer care & website in another few weeks. Airtel also announced it also starts booking for iPhone in few weeks. Airtel customers can send “iphone” to toll-free number 54321 to get updates about iPhone, prices, package…etc.

What will be the price in India?

Apple announced new upgraded 3G version of iPhone recently, which will be released on 11th July. The new 8 GB model is available for 199 USD (Rs.8246) & 16 GB model for 299 USD (Rs.12,390). But, remember that these prices are only applicable to US in collaboration with AT & T, a big service provider in US. There was a roomer that AT & T was giving some money to Apple for each it customer it gets. It was one of the reason to get such a great gadget for less. So prices in India will depend on service provider who is bringing it to India, i.e, Airtel & Vodafone. 

What to do with 3G? It’s not yet in India!

The new Apple iPhone is 3G enabled, but in India 3G technology is not yet in use! I am curious that, will Airtel & Vodafone will launch 3G service along with release of iPhone to India? For those who don’t know about 3G, it’s a third generation mobile technology to bring broadband internet speeds on your mobile phone! you can see Wikipedia entry on 3G for more. Currently India supports only EDGE (Wikipedia), so we will not benefit out of new 3G upgrade in iPhone if our network doesn’t supports it.

Related reading: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/09bharti.html