iPhone is launching in India on August 22, through Vodafone and AirTel. Good thing, even though late! And for all the people who booked it, let me tell you, this is going to be an utter disappointment, but they WONT agree to it. 😀
A quick look into the features.
Vodafone iPhone features
Assisted GPS
Applications support
Greater Autonomy (what’s that?)
Microsoft Exchange
AirTel iPhone features
GPS Maps
Applicatons
Microsoft exchange
Both AirTel and iPhone are promising HTML browsing, but that does not make any difference. Does it? In India you don’t have 3G technology.(AirCell provides it in Chennai, and testing is going on in certain places.)
Why you shouldn’t buy the iPhone in India(Or why it will be a disappointment)
- No mp3 support/songs if not through iTunes. Indians would definitely want the bollywood numbers playing. Big disappoint here.
- No video support. (What happens to all the MMS scandals?)
- Not a good camera, just average (hmm…hmm so you flash your iPhone and your peer having the samsung mobile shows you better pictures. ouch!)
- In India, no phones escapes the “scratches”. Get ready with a real good scratch free cover.
- If you want to change the battery, you better take an insurance for the phone, because you got to send it over to the US, to get it replaced. (Imagine the cost involved)
- Drop your iPhones and get ready for a heart break !
- Do you like MMS? Sorry mate, no support on the iPhone.
- Okay so you can browse websites eh? Did you know that flash isn’t supported on it? Booohoo…
- You can send pictures as attachments on email yeah? But only one at a time baby!
- Want to wile away time waiting for the train/bus/plane? Sorry. No games. This is for serious folks only!
- No SMS forwards..No cut and paste. Means no jokes shared, no texting business.
- It is “reported” to be heating up pretty quickly. But don’t believe me for it – use it to know.
So all the best folks !
(P.S – No misunderstandings, I’m no Apple hater. I admire Steve and possess a Mac.)
45 responses to “12 Reasons why the iPhone could be a disappointment in India”
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I’m no big Apple hater, but I’m a Steve Jobs hater. Apple has always been dependent on the Woz. Jobs is just the permanent poster boy.
You hit the nail on the head buddy. Nice to know there are people out there who’re not blown away by Jazz and think objectively.
You technically challenged or something? I hate the iPhone but your points are the lamest I have ever read.
@Manan, I wish if these were lame.
1. iTunes if the best way to manage and transfer Music. And who said no Bollywood Music ? I don’t have a single English Song on my iPhone !
2. iPhone Video Recorder is already there for iPhone 1.x Versions. A compatible version for the new firmware is already in works. http://www.iphonevideorecorder.com/
3. 2Mp is good enough for any casual shots. Check out some : http://www.flickr.com/groups/takenwithiphone/
4. Why just India ??? People all over the World have scratched their Cellphones…why just India ?? And unlike iPods, iPhone 2G has a brushed Aluminum back which is resistant to scratches and 3G has Plastic !
5. iPhone 3G is gonna be sold OFFICIALLY ! There’s gonne be Official replacements…why the need to send it to US ??
6. Dropped mine countless no of times. Nothing happened !
7. MMS is already there for iPhone. All these Applications are in the process of being ported over to 2.0. http://www.swirlyspace.com/iphone/apps/mms/
8. Flash support I agree is one drawback…but really for a Mobile Browsing experience its totally fine if Flash is not there. Ask any person whoz used the iPhone for Browsing..I’ll bet theres NO cellular device better than the iPhone for surfing the Internet !
9. Hmm again 3rd Party Applications, e.g. Flickr or Shozu does the trick !
10. Man you should just take a look at the Current no of Games on the iPhone. The Quality of Games is amazing ! Check out this video of Moto Racer for ex. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8HHzyeXTe8
11. Google for SMSD….already available on the iPhone….
12. Yep ! With heavy Wifi/Video usage it does heat up…agree on this one ! But certainly nothing to be scared off !
The only Drawbacks that are currently there are :
1. No Real Bluetooth Support i.e. No OBEX or A2DP – FU Apple for this !
2. No Mass Storage Driver Yet – Again FU Apple !
wtf???
no sms forwarding?
I mean they want me to memorize the msg and re-write it all over again?
sometimes trying to be different from the others might hurt a bit ..
btw mani you actually have that many subscribers 😛
seems like you are real famous in…India 😉
just now saw you commenting on my blog and now checking you SEO blog…I want my RSS to be 1000 from 400
lets c if you have some magic trick with you 😉
hmm, don’t agree with most of them though..
No MP3 / Songs – Like you said, it needs itunes.. so that’s fine I guess.. though it will need a different ringtone format but I think there are converters available for that? Same applies for Video too..
Camera – I don’t think any business phone would require a so good camera?
Scratch proof thing – It applies to all the phones right? Anyways you might want to watch this video: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=m-sRbeBehNs
Battery change – hmm, any confirmation about sending it to US? Let them make an announcement, I am sure apple will have service options here in Apple Service Centers too..
“Drop your iPhones and get ready for a heart break !” – Another video with scratch test and drop tests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUR70xhmqv4 – IT WORKS
MMS – Yes it doesn’t support but how many % of people use it? I have been using my SE W810i for more than 2-3 years but never used MMS.. anyways, if it’s useful for you then simply don’t buy the phone.. 🙂
Flash support – Yes, it doesn’t support flash but that’s fine.. I mean, why a businessman would want to watch flash intros on the phone, he would simply use his laptop?
One attachment – Yea. that’s a pretty weak feature.. infact I got to know about it just now.. but I am not sure if all other phones have multiple attachment feature or not?
Games – Dude? Go to appstore and download whatever games you want? Simple?
SMS forwards / cut and paste – Some app is there to enable SMS forwards. But copy / paste is pretty bad, it is a must for any phone. But again, this cannot be a strong reason for not buying an iphone.
Heating up – Well, it eats up battery on high usage of 3G but I guess, the same problem will be there with other phones too? Small device?
Anyways, nothing personal man but like the guy above said, the reasons are pretty lame.. infact I do not see any related to India.. these are global things which have been posted on the net zillion times..
I think some kind of home work before the post was required.
Cheers
Deep
@TanMay – Glad you brought this up.
I buy the iPhone, (let’s forget about the price and don’t even compare it to others) and I get no video recording…
The photos are looking same as my old Nokia…
It’s a fact that Indian conditions and weather are not very supportive for scratch prone surfaces. Remember the “Made for India” Nokia 1100 ad ? (Let’s even forget that and assume that we are all not going to drop the phone or use it like my Nokia phone)
And someone told me that from metal case in iPhone to plastic in 3G is technically called a “downgrade”.
@No.6 – You’re lucky may be. I sincerely wish if the same happened to every one who dropped it.
I’m guessing that a smart phone like the Nokia E series has a tougher body than the iPhone 3G.
Games – I have to download them ? Seriously ? Forget it !
Text messaging – I thought the iPhone is supposed to be superior to my first phone Nokia 3310. unfortunately, it isn’t.
@Heating, I consider phone that easily heat up in the league with chinese made “Huawei” CDMA phones. Clearly, Steve is capable of doing a better job.
Essentially, it fails to grow beyond the “beauty” concept, and almost completely ignores the “productivity” part which is not the case in all other Apple products, of which I’m a fan of.
Spending around 20k on a piece and expecting me to google down for apps, to even start recording a video or texting my friend…that’s pathetic!
@Deep – Deep I wish if I could go download the games/apps/itunes all that. Why wouldn’t they put it in the first place? All other phones do.
And I can’t possible agree that it’s intended for businessmen – If that was the case, I’d want all the features on my blackberry there in the first place without having to download anything.
I think it will end up being a “show piece” and I agree that there’s none better than an iPhone.
Mani the thing is, to be frank iphone as I see is promoted as business phone rather than a normal phone. So keeping that in mind, Games are not added, the downloadable games are gets downloaded pretty quickly.. I am currently on ipod touch version 2.01 and have downloaded few games and apps. The games are simply great. The apps too are very useful and userfriendly. If you check other phones, specially the ones which has games added by default. do they have the same quality of the games which are available for iphone? (I think someone above mentioned the demo of motor racer game, just check the graphics.. just too good.
I have used HTC’s touch and one of other HTC phones which is based on Windows.. trust me, iphone / ipod is much better than those phones.. the usage is so simple and cool.
I do not see it being as a showpiece. But everyone has it’s own take and I respect that. But from general point of view.. the mentioned points does not go well with “India” thing..
cheers
Deep
@Salman – I’m a great Jadugar then lol . I think you would’ve already found the “trick”. Right Salman?
@Mani Karthik :
Bro its the Application support for which ONE should buy the iPhone now. And No you don’t have to Google and all for any Applications. You did hear about the AppStore right ? Just have a Demo of the AppStore and you’ll get to know exactly how ingenious the system is !
Getting Applications/Games to your Phone was never this SIMPLER !
Agreed Apple should’ve provided them by Default, but that that they are AVAILABLE its no more a drawback !
About the Plastic Body, you do get a much lighter feel now along with the ergonomic curved body and the sexy glossy look !
And every Wifi Device I’ve used heats up ! Just hold a PSP after hrs of Wifi Gaming Usage and you’ll know what I mean. There’s very little Apple can do and moreover in a country like India, heating is expected.
@Manikarthik, Pardon me, but I beg to disagree with you.. I don’t find anything wrong with the iPhone that Apple can’t fix in the future.. I understand that copy paste, sms forwarding and bluetooth file transfer is something that is sorely missing and is in vogue here in India..
But trust me that won’t stop Apple from selling a huge number of iPhone’s here in India. I believe that you are a long time Nokia user, and I’d like to ask you this question, how many new features have you seen added to your phone via software upgrades over time.. Most years simply change the handset when they go for a new phone. It isn’t the same with the iPhone, its the software that makes the iPhone special, not its shiny looks.. If you are thinking of it as a shiny toy, then you got it all wrong..
And coming to the point about iTunes, it’s the best music manager out there, and I am sure Indians will come to love it.. Its user friendly and fast and gets the job done. Atleast its all integrated into iTunes, I don’t have to install something as junky as Nokia PC Suite thats got a dozen of stuff that I’d never use.
And about the battery replacement, you don’t need to send it to the US for sure.. Am sure your local Vodafone or Airtel store should have the resources to do it..
I’ve been a mobile user for quite sometime now, and when I buy the iPhone on 22nd August, the only three things I’ll miss will be copy paste, bluetooth file transfer and my crappy old Nokia phone… I don’t care about the SMS forwarding feature coz I don’t use it myself..
For loosing just two features, in return I get a phone that’s light years ahead of any other phone right now, and will be for sometime to come.. And its not about the design and the looks of the iPhone but the software that makes it special… iPhone’s interface is the best example of KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)
And the App Store is a gem no matter how you look at it.. What makes you think that you need to google for apps and games, I wonder.. There’s never been a way before to install applications on your phone.. Maybe you didnt need to google for apps on your nokia did you? You just went to Nokia’s App store and got the stuff you wanted right? Come on Mani, atleast research properly before you write such a rant… Coz its lame..
You will realize it sooner or later.. If there is anything that is gonna stop the iPhone from becoming popular in India, it has to be cost, and as Apple has always been, its targeting the up market Indian user, not the one who would settle down for a Nokia 1100..
Just my 2paise 😉 Didn’t mean to be rude.. 🙂 Cheers! Waiting to meet you in Kerala !
What’s that? You mean that I won’t be able to sync any songs that haven’t been bought from the iTunes Store with my iPhone? Clarifications please? 🙂
Agreeing with Karthik, I’d say iTunes is a much better software to use than the Nokia PC suite.
@Kartik,
Not at all Kartik. I completely understand and agree on many of the points.
I’m not trying to say that iPhone is a failure forever. I agree that in the future it’s going to be a good piece. That was not my point.
I hope you’ll agree that it’s much hyped up, way beyond reality. Reality that it misses the basic features a common no-frills phone carries like SMS forwards or Video optins. I won’t even dare to say that iPhone will not improve on that in the future.
But I bet it’s a mistake that these basic things are missing! And not too many people know this.
When I told a friend who was planning o buy it, that it misses MMS and Video, he wasn’t aware of it at all ! That’s the point.
I’m pretty sure that Apple will grow up, but at this point of time, when they fail to even match the basics – i pity the companies foresight. Why do you give chances for it?
The iPhone strategy of monetization with data transfer, is the prime focus which is why the “basic” stuff was ignored – so does analysts say.
Apple might want to make every upmarket iPhone carrier use the data transfer based services more and get the revenues out of it, probably and that;s a nice strategy.
Reg: the googling thing, I was replying to Tanmay on this point- 11. Google for SMSD….already available on the iPhone. (I might have got it wrong.)
Well, I’d love to see iPhone 3G rise and shine and cut the competition (me being an Apple fan), but that clearly isn’t their purpose Kartik. Apple has a strategy for iPhone, to reach the “data user”.
They’ll do that gracefully well. And I don’t think they care if any other phone is better than the iPhone. That’s not the agenda.
An iPhone is an iPhone – That’s it.
@ Shankar Ganesh – I think I could’ve clarified it better 😀
I don’t even know why diff people give diff insights on this. Some say you have to buy songs from iTunes store. And there are no bollywood songs out there. And you cannot play your mp3 songs from your collection (unclipped full versions) as ringtone on iPhone. There’s a hack process to go through, which has not helped everyone who tried it. Let’s forget about copyrights here, but there’s ambiguity over it. Disappointing.
@Mani, I do believe that the iPhone has been hyped way too much, but Apple and Steve Job are clever marketers and they know how precisely to sell a boatload of iPhones.
I do believe that if there is enough demand for Copy Paste, and other missing features like Video support, like how it was before when the only way to develop for the iPhone was to build apps on the web.. The demand for an SDK and many more events after that, lead to the gem of App Store that we see today.. Must say I’m an absolute fan of the store..
Apple is still new to the game, and I’d rather give them some time than write them off.. But I really hope that the 2.1 update brings some of the sorely missed features..
And I’ve been a iPod user, and there’s no restriction as to what you can sync via iTunes… Any MP3 will sync onto your iPhone, no matter if it was purchased from iTunes Store or not..
@Karthik – Thanks for clarifying Karthik. I’m not even thinking that Apple will ignore these features. As I’ve learned, iPhone will remain,grow and mature into a prolific data users phone.
This dependency on iTunes is a big disadvantage to us linux users.
By the way, can anyone confirm the price – I heard two different prices – 8000 and 20000+
Anyway, no big deal for me – I hate mobiles
I guess the ‘don’t-buy-the-iPhone’ argument will continue for some more time. While the points raised by the author have been countered in the comments, I would like to simply say that as an Apple fan and an iPod Touch user any amount of arguments like ‘no flash in the Safari browser’, ‘no MMS’ will not cut ice in the face of loyalty to Apple. The halo around Apple is a big plus which the competing brands do not have. Does anybody desperately wait for the next LG phone? Yes, Nokia is a revered brand in India and it will be a strong competition. The App Store is a revolutionary concept and that’s also a big plus in favour of the iPhone.
What a pathetic preview. Totally unresearched and full of false claims.
1. Junk
3. The iPhone cam performs really well in daylight.
4. Believe you me the screen is scratch proof. You can try to scratch it with a stone and it won’t. And the rest of the body is pretty scratch resistant as well (I speak of the iPhone first generation)
5. Why wouldn’t Apple India be able to replace the battery? Talk sense. Either you talk of grey market iPhones or the proper legal ones.
6. Ever noticed how flash bogs your entire desktop browser down to a standstill? Anyway, youtube is already supported on the iPhone.
10. Yeah right. Ever heard of something known as the App Store?
12. No it does not. Not like those nokias anyway. The little heating doesn’t affect user experience in any way.
I may have got my numbers wrong, but you can guess which ones I’m talking about.
Not going to bash about how some of these points you have written are wrong but only have one question.
When did aircel start 3G services. It’s definitely a news to me.
@Mani: Dude, you’re seriously technically challenged. 😆 Tanmay & goobi, no point, the guy has no clue of anything he is talking. The blogger, next time do some research to save yourself loads of embarrassment.
@Karthiksn – Just Google it down for details. 😀
http://www.tech2.com/india/news/telecom/aircel-unveils-3g-technology-in-chennai/4541/0
@Manan – I think you have a point. Some of those points may sound lame, but I still don’t understand why you’d go for iPhone 3G, when there’s no 3G in first place.
Must agree that the Apple “aura” is huge enough to blind us everyone of realities.
Also, a similar thread is over here – Nice read 😀
http://www.ihatemyiphone.com/
Who said I am going for the iPhone 3G? I hate the phone. You have no idea about how much I have criticized the iPhone at various forums, but the difference is that your points make you look technically challenged and out of the 12 only 4 hold any relevance as to why the iPhone isn’t a good device. Do your research before making lists.
@Manan, I wish if I knew everything about it Manav, am not a technically sound person when it comes to gadgets. I’m worried about the end user exp rather. Whatever rocket science is behind it, if a gadget doesn’t fullfil the basic requirements, that’s pathetic. Without SMS forwards, that’s not even a phone damn it!
Oh had just checked it after posting here. Anyways time to get back to the point.
Do you know except the sms forwards and copy and paste no other point actually holds.
Just because you don’t know the rocket science behind it doesn’t mean you can spread wrong info. Songs support just requires iTunes software installed and not exactly iTunes store. And for crying out loud it after all spwaned iPod touch you dont think think indians use iPod’s without indian music.
The price of that thing is not going to be 15k. Heck I think it will definitely be above 20k which means it wont be bought by an average user who buys his phone to sit and play games. And if an average person does end up spending that much then definitely he knows how to get it to work.
And just quote the source where you got the info about people having to send phone to US in case of any problems. I guess you need source to prove that.
And as you said in India no phone can escape scratches so why is it even a point if its common to all the phones.
You actually didnt mention the fundamental flaw in iPhone which is no bluetooth transfer, even if that was included I would have thought you atleast checked one or two sites.
And about the 3G I guess you do read newspapers since they have formed the rules and stuff for 3G its not much far. Actually BSNL and MTNL has already ordered most of the equipments required for it.
So next time just check two or three sites before putting stuff up. And knowing stuff about mobile is not “rocket sience”.
And yeah I dont think I will buy iPhone, I dont care how good it is I would still prefer Nokia E71 anytime.
Most of these are not really specific to india.
1. No mp3 support/songs if not through iTunes. Indians would definitely want the bollywood numbers playing. Big disappoint here.
Rubbish you can put whatever you want on the iphone from any source. I don’t have many itunes bought mp3’s… it handles all my ripped cd music just fine.
2. No video support. (What happens to all the MMS scandals?)
Bit of a pain to get working, but jailbreak and you can play anything. By default flash video works out of the box.. aka youtube etc.
3. Not a good camera, just average (hmm…hmm so you flash your iPhone and your peer having the samsung mobile shows you better pictures. ouch!)
Yup true camera is crap.
4. In India, no phones escapes the “scratches”. Get ready with a real good scratch free cover.
First thing I bought.
5. If you want to change the battery, you better take an insurance for the phone, because you got to send it over to the US, to get it replaced. (Imagine the cost involved)
Huh? Insurance is a few dollars a week, the iphone is not a toy its a tool. The cost if it’s under warranty is roughly $15 US dollars to post it there and back, with a turnaround time of under two weeks.
6. Drop your iPhones and get ready for a heart break !
So don’t bloody drop your phone.. .applies to anything really.
7. Do you like MMS? Sorry mate, no support on the iPhone.
MMS is technology from the 1990’s. Email is far superior.
8. Okay so you can browse websites eh? Did you know that flash isn’t supported on it? Booohoo…
SVG isn’t supported true so many of your “flashy” websites won’t properly, but any well designed website degrades nicely. Deal with it… flash websites are usually a few MB for the homepage alone… a really good way to burn your meagre monthly quota.
9. You can send pictures as attachments on email yeah? But only one at a time baby!
Not so in 2.0.1 multiple pictures are allowed now, limited by your ISP POP3 attachment size limits.
10. Want to wile away time waiting for the train/bus/plane? Sorry. No games. This is for serious folks only!
Click the icon that says AppStore download a bunch of FREE bloody games instantly.
11. No SMS forwards..No cut and paste. Means no jokes shared, no texting business.
Beta versions of copy&paste for the iPhone exist if you jailbreak you phone you can try them for free. If you are patient they should be on the Appstore in a few weeks for under $10.
12. It is “reported” to be heating up pretty quickly. But don’t believe me for it – use it to know.
Fake.
Your review is utter fail.
Hey are you sure that there will be no games as mentioned in your blog? I read quiet a few companies coming forward to develop games for the iPhone in India. Karnataka-based company Robosoft has already announced that it is releasing 5 games before next month for the India App Store.
@Coolfrost, there are no games by default like in other phones, but you can download them from the Appstore. But I could be wrong.
When I told a friend who was planning o buy it, that it misses MMS and Video, he wasn’t aware of it at all ! That’s the point.
You completed various good points there. I did a search on the topic and found a good number of persons will go along with with your blog.
I would like to say, nice webpage. Im not sure if it has been addressed, however when using Firefox I can never get the entire page to load without refreshing alot of times. Could just be my modem.
indian music is kind of cool and very stylish,–
i consider it was a bit rushed, and neglected some features that not many people talk about. Everyone is aware of that almost all new smartphones have web, so why present that primary perform at its bear minimum. Scroll up scroll down zoom in zoom out. Actually? which new phone doesnt try this? How bout talk about how the text rearranges itsself. Also the texting, very poor review. Why didnt you mention you should utilize the mic and textual content along with your voice? Not noted ALOT of different extra necessary features
Indian Music is really cool and some of it are great dance music too.`,.
Indian music is kinda groovy and cheesy specially if you have seen those bollywood movies ‘~*
Your site doesn’t show up correctly on my android – you may wanna try and repair that