A BITE OF THE APPLE

V.1
The versions currently available boast a stunning touchscreen user-interface, hailed as one of the “seven wonders of the modern tech world”. Watching movies and listening to music and browsing album artwork with Cover Flow using the inbuilt iPod on the 3.5-inch colour display is an experience in its self.
The iPhone runs on Apple’s OS X operating system and instead of buttons, joysticks, etc, it has icons that appear on the huge touch-sensitive screen. The address book appears when you touch the phone icon on the screen. Tap on a name and the iPhone makes the call. Touch the photos icon and your photo album glides onto the screen. The iPhone’s responsiveness and its wealth of effects makes using the phone easy and enjoyable. SmartPhones have a reputation for being slow, bug-ridden and difficult to use, but the iPhone is the absolute opposite. Other great features include the Safari web browser, Google Maps and built-in Wi-Fi support.
Where the iPhone does lose out is its 2 megapixel camera, which lacks autofocus and flash. Another omission is 3G. For a phone that places so much emphasis on music downloads and web browsing, downloads at 2G speeds is a major limitation. The Bluetooth support is also limited, with no filesharing and support for stereo Bluetooth headsets.
Also, the huge LCD display sucks power and with so many gadgets to play with, the battery runs down quickly. But heavy users should get a full day’s use between charges. Other hitches include the omission of MMS, and the fact that you can only use MP3 tracks downloaded from iTunes as ringtones.

Availability
It’s not as if one has to wait till Diwali for the iPhone. There’s a thriving grey market out there. In Delhi’s Palika Bazaar, there’s even a Chinese “iPhone”. A vendor here said the current version would be available in India through Vodafone and Airtel for Rs 24,000 and Rs 28,000 for the 8gb and 16gb variants, respectively, as part of a two-year subscription deal. Elsewhere, at a South Delhi mall, dealers were certain it was indeed the new 3G variant that was slated for the Indian launch. They said Apple has been trying to enter the Indian market since January and the iPhone would cost around Rs 24,000.
Interestingly, the UK and US Apple online stores said both current variants were ‘unavailable for shipping’, leading to further rumours that the current version has gone ‘end of day’ in some markets like the UK. What is certain that mobile carrier O2, which offers the iPhone in the UK, slashed prices by 100 pounds, which could have resulted in increased sales and hence a shortage as well.

V.2
The excitement and tension that surround the unknown is almost palpable as far as the new iPhone variant is concerned.
Rumours abound on the Internet, some suggesting the new iPhone will see Apple reverting to a white casing, just like the early iPods. Others suggest the metallic back has been replaced by a glossy black plastic shell, with chrome volume buttons. The phone is also said to be a little less angular and thicker than the first iPhone, though roughly the same size as the original. It is also said to include a flush, as opposed to a recessed, headphone jack and the battery is still not removable.
Another source also claims the device will in fact have a glossy plastic shell but with a metallic bezel on the front, framing the screen, much like the current model. It is also claimed there could be three colour options: black, white and red. Other than that, the other big physical difference is that the edges on the back of the device are apparently tapered, much like the edges of the new MacBook Air, thicker in the middle than the sides. As for the guts, rumours suggest the obvious inclusion of 3G and built-in GPS.
One point worth noting is that since India doesn’t have any 3G service yet, there’s a good chance that the older variant will find its way to India. But make no mistake, there will still be plenty of people queuing up outside Vodafone and Airtel shops for it.