Apple iPhone in India - Your Questions on Unlocked iPhones

Want to buy an Apple iPhone in India ? Not sure if unlocked iphone works in India. Read this quick iPhone Guide before you purchase the iPhone from Indian mobile phone dealers.

1. Is the Apple iPhone available in India – Yes. You can easily purchase iPhone phones here.

2. If iPhone is available where I can buy iPhone in India - Apple hasn’t introduced iPhone officially in India but you can grab one from Palika Bazaar of Delhi or Heera Panna shopping complex of Mumbai. Alternatively, some online sites are also selling unlocked iPhone in India. The iPhone was earlier expected to debut in India via Reliance Retail. Most online iPhone suppliers in India do not share their contact address.

3. Will Indian iPhone work with the GSM SIM card of Airtel, Idea, BSNL or Vodafone? Yes but you cannot use the Visual Voicemail feature of iPhone. Also, iPhone is GSM based so it may not work with Tata Indicom or Reliance CDMA network.

4. Can I buy an unlocked iPhone in US and use it in India - Yes, the iPhone bought in US (or UK or Canada) will be compatible in India - you can just buy a local SIM card in India and replace the AT&T SIM. Make sure you read the Apple policies as this may break the warranty.

5. What about HCL and Wipro selling iPhone in India legally? There was a rumor that iPhone may be available in India through a legal route from Wipro and HCL as they were expected to sign a distribution deal soon with Apple for selling iPhone in India. No confirmation still.

6. Does Apple official sell an unlocked iPhone - Yes, they have launched an unlocked iPhone in France and it could soon be available in India. No need to pay mobile phone dealers for unlocking iPhone cell phones.

7. What about Apple Store - The first store will open in Bangalore for selling Macbooks, iPod, Apple TV and other Apple products but they won’t stock iPhone.

8. What is the price of iPhone in India - It varies but the time of writing, the unlocked 4GB iphone was around 20k while the 8GB unlocked iPhone was 30k. (Includes shipping and taxes)

9. Should I wait for iPhone or invest in BlackBerry or Nokia N95 ? Read this comparison of smartphones - iPhone vs Blackberry, N95

10. I have bought an iPhone and manage to unlock it. Now what - If you are connecting to iTunes for transferring music, videos and photographs from the computer to the iPhone, iTunes may suggest that you upgrade the iPhone firmware to version 1.1.1 - Cancel and do not allow iTunes to update your iPhone as it will get locked again and become useless. Update: The new unlocked iPhones are shipping in India with firmware version 1.1.1.

11. I bought an iPhone in US and traveling to India on a business trip. How can I save on iPhone international roaming charges while making phone calls in India - Do not use the AT&T call service, instead make phone call over VoIP using the Wi-Fi option of iPhone. You can use Jajah or even Skype to make cheap international calls over the internet.

iPhone is a quad-band GSM mobile phone so it will working internationally in countries outside the US though you’ll have to ask AT&T to turn on international roaming on the iPhone and that the places you’re going offer GSM coverage. If you want to learn more about iPhone, here are iPhone books and iPhone tutorial DVDs that you may buy from Amazon.

iPhones In India

The iPhone is a multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone by Apple, announced by company CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007, that was released on June 29, 2007 in the U.S.

User input is accomplished via touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons.

The iPhone is a 2.5G quad-band GSM phone, though Jobs mentioned in his keynote that Apple has a "plan to make 3G phones" in the future. According to Jobs, the current version was not designed for 3G due to greater battery consumption, size concerns and AT&T's still immature 3G network.The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player and mobile phone. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, Visual Voicemail and local "Wi-Fi" connectivity.

The iPhone is available from the Apple Store and from AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless, with a price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model, based on a two-year service contract. Apple intends to make the phone available in Europe in Q4 2007 and in Mexico, Australia and Asia in 2008.

The good: The Apple iPhone has a stunning display, a sleek design, and an innovative multi touch user interface. Its Safari browser makes for a superb Web surfing experience, and it offers easy-to-use apps. As an iPod, it shines.

The bad: The Apple iPhone has variable call quality and lacks some basic features found in many cell phones, including stereo Bluetooth support and 3G compatibility. Integrated memory is stingy for an iPod, and you have to sync the iPhone to manage music content.

The bottom line: Despite some important missing features, a slow data network, and call quality that doesn't always deliver, the Apple iPhone sets a new benchmark for an integrated cell phone and MP3 player.

High end Nokia Users in India might be able to affort the cost ($599 or around 25000 for a 8GB peice.), but the catch is that it can only be purchased with a two year AT&T contrat. You can't substitute its sim card with the other. for a country that has lagged behind in new phone devices, this will be , for the moment at least be " only in America".