iPhone 3G

Aug. 21: Technobuffs will have to wait a few more hours for iPhone 3G as it will be launched in the city only tomorrow afternoon because of “technical” reasons.

Airtel chief operating officer (COO), Northeast, Sudipto Chowdhury did not elaborate on the “technical” reasons responsible for the delay, but said the service would be launched in Guwahati tomorrow afternoon despite its nationwide launch this midnight.

The iPhone rollout in other places of the Northeast will be done in a phased manner, he added.

Chowdhury said there was an “overwhelming” response to the launch. “We have received a lot of queries and applications from Airtel customers as well as customers of other mobile service providers.”

He attributed the “overwhelming” response to the hype created over the latest object of desire as a lot had been written and talked about it.

On how many iPhones have been booked so far, he said, “All these details will be announced tomorrow during the launch”.

Apple had announced the iPhone in January 2007 and had introduced it in the US on June 29, 2007. The Time magazine named it Invention of the Year in 2007. The iPhone 3G, with faster 3G data speeds and GPS feature, was released on July 11, 2008.

The iPhone 3G is much faster than its predecessor and other smart phones at fetching data over the Internet through EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution).

It is priced at Rs 36,100 for the 16GB model and Rs 31,000 for the 8GB model by Airtel.

S.K. Mahanta, a senior executive of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd, said he was dying to get hold of “The Object of Desire of 2008”.

Mahanta, who is currently using a Blackberry, said he opted for iPhone 16GB model because he is a man on the move and always need Internet connectivity. “With iPhone I will get Broadband connection which will help me to download Excel sheets and other documents. The crystal clear video is an added attraction for me,” he said.

Another Blackberry user, who has an eye on the gadget, said he was yet to book one as it was a bit pricey. “Some of my friends have booked it. Let’s see how they find it. I will take a final decision after that,” he said.

Sobhan Vyas, a retailer of mobile handsets, said there was excitement and enthusiasm in the market over the launch. “Even we have received queries from customers about it, but at present the handsets will be given by Airtel,” he added.

The beauty of the iPhone 3G is that the users will receive software updates as more functions are added over time. It means that there will be no need to change the phone every six months.