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Vodaphone has already made a public announcement that it is gearing up to introduce the Apple 3G phone to customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, who will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network. The other GSM mobile operator who will be marketing the Apple iPhone in India as well as some parts of Asia will be none other than Bharati Airtel servicing some 62 million mobile subscribers at present. So between Bharati and Vodafone, the Apple product should be available to most of the Mobile phone users in India as well as other parts of the world.

The rumors that have started anew is that the launch is set to take place somewhere around the Diwali season since it is the time when most Indian families indulge in shopping sprees. But rumors aside, as the date for the official launch comes near, the owners of the pirated iPhones are becoming increasingly worried. One, the cost is less, so it may be that the original versions would cost a lot less than the pirated ones. Two, with both Bharati Airtel and Vodafone supporting the iPhone, they may not take kindly to any illegal use of iPhone and may jam their phones. Three, the Apple corp may not find it amusing that illegal versions of its product is being sold over the counter and would want to take action against all the buyers and sellers. So considering everything, the gray market has due cause to be worried.

The Indian middle class, the versatile consumer playground, has welcomed all the earlier Apple products with open arms and going by reactions posted to this particular announcement, the trend is set to continue for this product as well. What makes this product outstanding is that in addition to offering a cheaper alternative to Blackberry, Apple 3G offers additional advantages, like the option to talk while surfing. That is, with the Apple 3G, you can chat while chatting – sounds a bit confusing does it not? Basically, you can use the phone to hold a verbal conversation while surfing the net at the same time.

These days, if you walk into a net café anywhere in India or the rest of Asia, you are bound to come across a person or two talking on the mobile while surfing the net. Apple has taken note of this and has managed to incorporate this feature into the latest 3G products. The launch date is still being kept very hush-hush, but going by the speed with which Airtel is moving, one can expect the 3G to come around knocking any time soon. The price tag is still a bit of a mystery but since the lesser price tag is one of the major attractions to this product, you can expect it to be a lot less when compared with the blackberry, at the very least.