Ramchi

Anyways, only business is going to pay for such phones. Most of those who carry this idiotic equipment (BB) will get their expenses reimbursed by their respective business.

"While India has among the lowest telecom tariffs in the world, the minister sees scope for further reduction since in purchasing power parity terms (a method for determining how much a dollar can buy across countries), the rates here don’t compare favourably with those abroad." Durig one of our recent discussions I have high-lighted this fact. Good that it is being addressed by the Telecom Minister. Hope this is getting translated into action instead of mere words.

I am one of those who have purchased iPhone 8 GB version with 1.1.2 Firware & 4.6 Bootloader. This is called as 1.1.2 OTB(OOB) Unlock. If any of the mobile shops in Chennai or Bangalore (Hydrabad) have Turbo SIM Card please let me know. Kindly, ping my personal message with relevent info.

Not yet and it doesnt seem to be any soon. So, any potential iPhone buyers STAY AWAY from iPhone for another 5 years!!!!! It will be a sheer waste of money to buy an equipment where you wont have warranty, potentially gets bricked, non immediate unlock solution, frequent Firware updates and VERY EXPENSIVE ----MHO - NOT WORTH IT!!!

Nothing is free as we speak. Let us not waste our time in such gimmicks. There were so many such SMS free type of things came and gone. They would give you some free credits during initial days but after that they would charge exhorbitant rates for SMS messages. It is not even worth to consider such services at individual levels. Probably, this may be useful if you run a business where you want to automate certain messaging to mobile phones without spending Rs 900+taxes for every Blackberry connection!!!! Others better stay!

It would be nice if it is integrated with MS Outlook

Whether anyone has Turbo SIM in India? Looks like iPhone OTB(Out Of the Box) 1.1.2 Firmware is uncrackable (I mean the Bootloader 4.6) !!!! So far no one has succeeded in doing so meanwhile I have this expensive monster sitting in my hands without any use!!!! I would not mind spending another INR 1K or 2K on Turbi SIM which is the ONLY proven solution available so far.

When you say Skype, are you planning to call Skype contacts over your GPRS Connection, EDGE Connection, WiFi Connection? Is it GSM or CDMA? As far as I know there may be limited number of VoIP enabled CDMA editions. In GSM you have plenty like P1i, E61i etc...Basically, you can trust most of the GSM phones with WiFi will have SIP (VoIP) compatibility and you need to install some custom software based on the OS you have in your mobile phone. If you are planning to do Skype calls over GPRS or EDGE connections better be careful!

Mr Sanjeev, As I suspected your phone is not Bricked instead you have not properly unlocked your iPhone. No one has ever made a Bricked iPhone to work so far my knowledge goes. Anyways, good luck!

If you have upgraded the phone to 1.1.2 from 1.1.1 then you should be able to downgrade without problems. I am not sure whether firmware update 1.1.2 does brick the iPhone. My understanding was firmware 1.1.1 only does brick the iPhone. I think you should be safe If you had unlocked the phone and applied the firmware upgrade 1.1.1 then this happens. There is no immediate solution available to overcome this issue. You may need to wait until Apple comes out of the contract with AT & T which may run for few years or iPhone hackers to find out a way to UNBrick all bricked iPhones. There are quite a few people out there who have similar problems but without solutions. The scary thing is I am getting an unlocked iPhone soon and I am not sure which firmware it has!

If you have all your contacts in the mobile and in addition if you take your itemized bills of last 6-12 months, it should be ok to cover more than 90%-95% of your contacts.

For living- very simple just like everyone else breath, eat, sleep etc....! Am I philosopher?....why not...if you think so.... My question would be - Are you a Reliance Shareholder?

Don’t take numbers in absolute sense. $50 Mobile bill for an average America/European may be just 1/50th of their gross salary whereas Rs 500 for average Indians it is 1/5 - 1/10 of their salary. So purchasing power is more in Western countries while they spend more for more things while we spend less for lesser things! Our data plans are more expensive and in other countries people get handsets at subsidized rates and sometimes they get two handsets for free etc…

Marwaris never wanted competition. Arun Sarin, Mittal,Tata, Godrej, Bajaj....we have history of incometent businessmen who just by corrupting the babus and successive Congress governments kept Indian public at bay with their substandard products for almost 50 years non-stop. By Gods will let them face competition and succeed if they can!

Number portability may not happen immediately, you never know whether our Corporate Babus like Mittals, Tatas, Ambanis would really like to expose their customers. They will try their best to delay the deployment in all forms. Get your last 6 months itemized bills and take all unique mobile numbers send an SMS after changing your service to a new number. This may not be easier to do but in my opinion the best thing to do if you are not satisfied with RIM. As a customer you should also need to manage your number change effectively. Just like Business name change happen for tactical or strategic reasons, you should also minimize the risk of too much dependency on your fixed mobile number. Best way to mitigate is by self-inflicting the change and see what happens. Now atleast, you have better control over everything and completely aware of the consequences. Assume yourself in unexpected situations where RIM or some other provider disconnects your services or increases the tariff at unacceptable levels, you will be doing it all in a hurry and may not be aware of associated risks. Proactively disconnect your mobile services periodically and avoid getting into the trap of your number identity. You will become your number otherwise!

These Mittals, Vittals, Jains, Tatas, Sarins, Ambanis want to live a legacy life by looting pockets of Indian citizens. The reality is they are incompetent when it comes to real competition. Unfortunate truth is, most of the big shots in the world are like that including Bill, Gates. They wont allow competition to brew, they will do ANYTHING to curtail competition (see Gurubhai movie!). To add insult to injury, we have inefficient governments, totally ignorant or irrelevant authorities and corrupt babus running the whole system. Homilies apart, honestly, this spectrum tussle is made to look like a battle where the lines have clearly drawn by the operators. Unless external influence comes into force, I wont be surprised if statusquo continues for another few more years.

Problem for me may be the new iPhones which come with the firmware 1.1.2 for which unlocking procedure is yet to put in place. They have procedures for iPhones which have been upgraded to 1.1.2 from 1.1.1 but not straight out of the shops with 1.1.2. I shall take a look at the site.

If you compare the EDGE Vs GSM almost similar story will be there. Since Datacards have become cheaper and it does not require batteries (unlike Mobile phone internet for which you need to keep the mobile phones charged), people using Mobiles as the main source of internet connectivity in countries like India is slowing down. Most of the countries offer unlimited data plans (3G or EVDO). In US 3G standards are slowly evolving and due to FAA regulations, 3G deployment is slowing down (just like we have TRAI/DOT/GOI/COAI). In Europe 3G services are damn expensive, while in India even basic data plans (in certain circles) are almost Rs 300 + usage charges. In my opinion it does not really matter to Indian subscribers whether a mobile instrument is 3G/EDG/EVDO compatible so long it can allow customers to talk. Video calls, VoIP calls etc…is not getting popular in India unlike Japan or Europe. But WiFi will be an added advantage for browsing net/checking mails/VoIP chat etc…

I dont use EDGE since it does not have. It has GPRS but I have not taken up GPRS connection for obvious reason. Also, it has 3G data connectivity but unfortunately in this country it will take few centuries before we get to see 3G/4G services!!! But I do make use of its WiFi connectivity option for connecting to internet etc...which is really good. As I have mentioned in the other thread, I could even use Fring for voice chating etc... Overall I like the performance of P1i to other phones I have used so far.

Try SE P1i which has BB Connect along with SMS capabilities. This has smart QWERTY keyboard, touch screen capabilities along with decent multi-media capabilities for INR 20K. Whereas BB 8703 which does not have camera, expanded memory, touch screen capabilities and does not have many other useful features (P1i is a 3G phone but does not have EDGE) yet costs more than SE P1i! I would even recommend P1i over BB 8802/03. This phone is a clear leader. BBs have become outdated of late!!! Only “about-to-retire” executives carry BBs!!

What is the procedure for unlocking iPhone? I may get one in the next one week to 10 days time. I do have WiFi connection at home. Do I need to pay anything for releasing the lock of iPhone for using certain services? Whether using the services of Unlock require any Credit Card charges? Thanks for your feedback.

In India people we can unlock iPhone for mere Rs 1000 & odd, if you can get iPhone thru known sources from US for $399 or so which amounts to Rs 16,000. Paying more than 18K for iPhone may not really worth. I am hearing thru other sources that in India iPhones will be sold thru Reliance Stores for Rs 30,000!!!! Not sure when this will happen but hopefully this version will be much more advanced than current iPhone which is behind features list except for interface and capacity.

I have used Nokia phones. They are expensive but loose its resale even before you walk out of the room because of poor quality, cheap plastic look, unstable OS etc…Generally, they are very good in terms of features especially higher end models. I have E61 which has been functioning fairly for the past 1 ½ years without trouble. This piece has no Cameras, may be because of that!!! The desktop software packages bundled with Nokia smart phones are generally superior to other phones. Support takes lots and lots of time to resolve issues. As far as SE phones are concerned, I have used 3 phones, Z600 (rock solid performance for 3 years – literally abused – no issues), P990i (high feature list but relatively unstable), P1i (So far so good for 4 months). In Metros SE support works very efficiently in resolving issues (may be because they have lesser issues). Not sure about support experiences from smaller towns. Reasonable re-sale value. Not so good desktop software packages bundled. Motorola sets are generally good but my experience is very limited. Recently, my father owned a second hand Moto Razr old version. I need to check its performance. Not sure about support, software & its resale value. Motorola phones themselves are moving towards Linux based opensource options. So you may find lots of third-party software available.

As always my personal take (which has been consistent all along for the past couple of years or so), this drama enacted by all these guys sponsored by the inefficient operators who do not want to spend money in upgrading their Networks. This is such a convenient game by finger pointing each other in the process delaying 3G deployment and save tons of money by denying the best technology for consumers like us. If one brings 3G, naturally the other one has to invest as well so natural competition would creep up and may not justify the investment!!! Indian customers have to s*uck their thumbs for few more years and be satisfied with substandard services of Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance, BSNL, TATA et al....

By the time we get 3G services, world would have moved to WiMax and we get all the sundry handsets at higher price ranges. All these man made "drama" between CDMA Vs Trai Vs COAI Vs Dot Vs Government seems ONLY to delay 3G deployment by citing these as reasons. None of the operators have balls indulging in xxpensive 3G rollout. I am not sure whether 3G evolution has to happen to reach WiMAx/4Gen standards or is it possible to move to 4.5G or WiMax standards straightaway from present standards in India? Incompetent government, corrupt Dot, clueless Trai will have to be guided by Mittals, Tatas, Ambanis whose only aim is to remain in the top 5 billionaires of the world!!!