[Ajaybiz]

One eBay seller is selling factory unlocked iPhone 4 16 GB for 31990 with 6 month interest free EMI for citi, icici and one more banks credit card holders.

[crkishore]

If you observed, all of the 3GS phones were removed from all over the country for several months. The reason seems to be MNP. Airtel and Vodafone had paid Apple to bring the device to India. They, surprisingly, didnt have an answer for MNP. I cant understand it, but thats the reason given by the folks @ Imagine store.

When my attempt to get a legal one, for some app development, failed, I finally sourced it from Singapore @ 32.5k INR (16GB) through a friend who was coming empty handed. So thats the approximate real price of the phone, which seems to be matching to the current news. But we need to add the 30% import duty. So 10k INR is what the operators are betting.

Sideline 1 : I had recently quit my job after having put/suppplied the WiFi/BT/FM chip into iphone/iPAD/iPOD/Nexus and many other phones. I bought this new iphone and took a new connection for my development work. But the Airtel folks realised that I am now unemployed and disconnected the new connection. After a painful process, one sensible person saw my years of association with them and immediately put back the connection -

Sideline 2 : I bought a Google Nexus S for around 29k just before the iphone4. No freebies. So compared to that, i would have loved to take the current Aircel offer. I only wonder how Aircel will make the customer to keep paying the monthly committment without running away. Remember what had happenned when Reliance did something similar at around their launch time ?

[prashant.dinkar]

Hey Guys

I just bought a MacBook Pro and iPad , I am falling in love with apple products for the quality and workmanship they offer and ofcourse the software. I have never been a "Phone Guy" and till date using a humble Nokia E71 . After buying some of Apple products I really want to try a iPhone .
I want to pick it from US as Dubai or Singapore is out of question . Can you please suggest me best route of dooing so ? And how much Vitamin M I expect to shell out.
Regards
PD

[gopz]

Operators won't lose anything if they stop paying bills, coz upfront cost covers for the phone?

[saildrive]

Originally Posted by prashant.dinkar

Hey Guys

I just bought a MacBook Pro and iPad , I am falling in love with apple products for the quality and workmanship they offer and ofcourse the software. I have never been a "Phone Guy" and till date using a humble Nokia E71 . After buying some of Apple products I really want to try a iPhone .
I want to pick it from US as Dubai or Singapore is out of question . Can you please suggest me best route of dooing so ? And how much Vitamin M I expect to shell out.
Regards
PD

Hey PD
Congrats on MBP and iPad
My wife just picked the iPhone 4 in UAE for 31K - 32g. She is yet to come back and will only know thereafter if there is any excise she will pay at the airport

Cheers

[crkishore]

That is right Gopz. I forgot that fact for a while. So the question is only about the approx 10k INR import duty.

[Epic]

Ok. Based on your comments, it is very obvious that all you guys are huge fans of Apple/iPhone. I know, as I myself behave the same when McLaren Mercedes is discussed in an F1 forum, even though Red Bull clearly are the dominant ones so far since the last season till date

I am not a BB fan, it just seems more user friendly and practical.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Dear Epic,

The BB and iPhone war is a very old one and not worth debating over about. I have both an iphone and bb and i still enjoy the iPhone. It's a personal choice. No point debating.

Not debating on this. Just giving my personal view since I am using both phones. As rightly said, it is a personal choice.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

About emails: i have to access 14 accounts. Personal, and company accounts. BB can't handle so many.

Thankfully I have just 02 email accounts. One personal and one official.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

About the battery issue. It's not bad nor is it great. Mine lasts as much as my bb and i use my iphone more. You bought yourself a second hand phone. If the previous owner has not used it properly, the battery can go kaput. Maybe that's the whole reason why the iPhone was sold in the first place.

You have got a point here. However, I bought this phone based on rave reviews through friends. On buying the phone and noticing its pathetic battery life, I inquired around and also looked on the internet and there are tons of forums discussing the low battery life of brand new phones.

So yes, it could be that the previous owner messed up the phone or just an issue with iPhone based on the various threads on the internet.

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Adding to the above..which version of iOS is running on the iPhone?
And regards to get better battery life, you should turn off 3G from Settings, if at all it is activated.
And goto Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable > Turn Off Ping. Rest of the settings under Restrictions can be configured according to your need.

My phone is running on OS 4.3.1 (8G4). 3G is turned off. Ping is turned off.

Originally Posted by dre@ms

A quick Update.

Went to Apple store on Saturday and enquired about iPhone 4. The sales person said, that the launch would be happening Tomorrow and as a scoop, he told it will be a unlocked version.

Don't mean to discourage but I believe the iPhone 4 has issues with the antennae which leads to regular call drops. At least, this is the case when the iPhone 4 was just launched. But I was also told that the bug has been fixed in the latest models being sold. So please do a research before buying.

Originally Posted by gopz

Made me laugh!!! It's not just hype, the iPhone is the best gadget with a phone built in! Agree that it's not the best phone for calls or texts, but as an overall gadget that does email, calls, apps and navigation, there is nothing that beats the user interface.

And my personal opinion is that blackberry is nowhere near the iPhone

Best gadget according to who? According to you, right? It is a decent phone for calls or texts and definitely good when it comes to Apps or Navigation, but I totally disagree with the Email part. For emails, Blackberry is KING (yes, this is according to me). Blackberry is purely a business phone with no nonsense!!

And talking about user interface? Please try out Android. Neither the iOS or BB OS is anywhere close.

And guys, don't want this to be an argument. This is just my personal feedback after using the iPhone. I have nothing against Apple/iPhone nor am I a fan of Blackberry. I just use phone which serve the purpose as intended and required. As 'Tejas@perioimpl' had mentioned, it could be that I bought a badly used phone.

[crkishore]

Prashant,
You should be able to buy a legal iPhone-4 from tomorrow right in India I got one from Singapore a month back, and now find the same price being quoted officially from Aircel/Flipkart. So no import duty ! I wonder how.

[dre@ms]

Got this from Aircel website.

iPhone 4 is available at Aircel stores, Apple stores, Shopper’s stop, Reliance Digital, Croma and many more outlets.

So, iPhone4 launching tomorrow is the Factory Unlocked one

[VW2010]

So, iPhone4 launching tomorrow is the Factory Unlocked one

41K for a phone that people in US are paying around 10K is just furious. The same plan based model in US gets you phones at 99$ and 199$.

Knowing Apple, before we Indians really buy and enjoy this phone the Iphone 5 would be out and we will not be ready to spend 41K on an old phone.

The new generation Android phones are costing far cheap with comparable and even better features.

I just see it as Greed from Airtel/Aircel and Apple. Lost respect for apple sometime back.

[dre@ms]

Agreed VW2010. But people who blindly loves Apple would storm the stores and get theirs.

If people have the same thoughts of you, the iPhone 3GS wouldn't have been sold a piece till now.

If 90% stays away, 10% gets the iPhone4 and Apple and other telecom companies are happy with it.

[DueLLeR]

Isn't the iPhone 4 available factory unlocked in the grey market already? I got myself a 16GB version three weeks back for 32.5k from Mumbai. The phone took a local SIM without any jailbreaking or using the Gevey SIM!

What advantage would a prospective buyer get if purchased from Airtel/Aircel apart from warranty?

[VW2010]

prospective buyer get if purchased from Airtel/Aircel apart from warranty?

Software upgrades that may not brick the phone. Warranty is very important with these phones. Even in grey market replacing that screen costs close to 15-20K.

Te price you got it for is almost similar to the price Airtel or Aircel is selling the mobile for. Added advantage is getting a data plan. If only airtel sold Samsung S2 i would be jumping on it

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by VW2010

41K for a phone that people in US are paying around 10K is just furious. The same plan based model in US gets you phones at 99$ and 199$.

Knowing Apple, before we Indians really buy and enjoy this phone the Iphone 5 would be out and we will not be ready to spend 41K on an old phone.

The new generation Android phones are costing far cheap with comparable and even better features.

I just see it as Greed from Airtel/Aircel and Apple. Lost respect for apple sometime back.

How can you compare 41K with $199? 41K is the unsubsidized price while $199 is including subsidies. If you add the data plan cost in US to $199, it would come pretty close to 41K after 2 years.

The reverse subsidy offered by Aircel is an eyewash according to me. Don't understand why they offer 720 discount on 1119 (for 16GB) when they can straight away charge you 1119-720.

The greed seems to lie with the operators, not Apple. Apple have priced their other products (iPad, Macbook, iPod) almost on par with the US prices.

[VW2010]

Apple have priced their other products (iPad, Macbook, iPod) almost on par with the US prices.

And how is that one just paid 10K in us, and paid the rest over the next 24 months in instalments as part of usage charges while we indians have to pay 699 or 800 USD in advance and may be save by using a connection for 2 years.

I prefer the plan of paying 10K and using the phone with a contracted connection.