UK Carrier O2 Announces iPhone 4 Early Upgrade Offer

The UK carrier O2 has announced their upgrade policy for Apple's iPhone 4, including offers for existing suscribers who want to jump ship onto Apple's new smartphone before their contract ends. Between June 24th and July 24th, existing suscribers still within their contract can upgrade to the iPhone by paying £20 ($29) per month remaining in a one-off charge. Alternatively you can transfer to pay-as-you-go and buy an iPhone 4 that way, though you will need to probably stop paying for your monthly agreement. Finally, there are early upgrade bonuses depending on your customer standing in O2's "Priority List" (which depends on monthly spending and loyalty); that can grant you up to a six month early upgrade. There is an O2 early upgrade calculator which works out how much you'll be paying depending on how close to your contract renewal date you are. Of course, with Vodafone, Orange, and T-Mobile all planning to offer the iPhone 4 in the UK, there's likely to be plenty of competition there. SlashGear ended up getting their hands on the iPhone 4 and decided to make a video showing off some of its specs, check out the video below:

Apple Redevelops Interest in India; Introduces iPhone 3GS\iPad

As per a recent announcement from India’s largest cell phone service provider, Bharti Airtel was that iPhone 3GS will be made available to the consumers. This weekend Bharti Airtel and Vodafone revealed the launch of the smartphone in India. The iPhone, however, isn't the only well-known smartphone to get a big push in a new part of the world. The BlackBerry Storm2 is also being rolled out for Indian consumers.

In addition to the iPhone 3GS arriving in India as of two days ago, the iPad is also scheduled for an Indian launch in the coming weeks. Shortly after the tablet was announced in January, Google Trends revealed one of the most prevalent search patterns to ever originate from India as a result of a massive chunk of the Indian population inquiring about the new tablet computer. Now that India is showing an interest like never before in Apple, it seems Apple is poised to return the favor.

In the past Apple did not pay much attention to the Indian market, considering the delays in resolving the AppStore issues that took almost two weeks. But in the wake of the iPad's announcement, it seems Apple has taken a new interest in India and, consequently, revamped its business strategy in that part of the world.

The Financial Times published an article stating that the iPad "will have very little impact in India," suggesting that the device would only find "niche adoption as a lifestyle device for surfing the internet and watching high-definition videos."

Since late January, the buzz for Apple’s new tablet – the iPad has only increased in India. And as Apple shows signs of redeveloped interest in the region, it's quite possible that the demand for the iPad could substantially eat into the sales of traditional PCs and laptops in the region.

We will find out soon enough when the iPad is released.

Airtel to bring iPhone 3GS to India "in the coming months"

India is the second largest populated country, just like people India has another thing in abundance – “cell phones”. However, the country has few iPhones, due to the high price compared to the Nokia handsets, which have captured the small but growing smartphone market in the world’s second largest country. And finally - nine months after the device's worldwide launch - the iPhone 3GS will be available in India through the country's largest wireless carrier, Bharti Airtel.

The iPhone was only introduced in Indian customers by Airtel only in August 2008. But the lack of carrier subsidy for the device keeping prices high and the absence of a nationwide 3G data network (even EDGE coverage is spotty) has hampered sales. Apple eventually added a second carrier, Vodafone, but that carrier charges extra for data usage, making the iPhone even more expensive from the competitors. Also, iPhone users on either Airtel or Vodafone can't use Visual Voicemail on their phones, and iTunes is not available for music downloads, only apps.

Airtel announced on Friday that iPhone 3GS will arrive in India at some point “in the coming months," without elaborating. According to the Airtel’s website, the 8GB iPhone 3G will still be available, with 16GB and 32GB variants of the iPhone 3GS, going on sale at the carrier's retail stores only, and will be sold without a contract, but the baseband will be locked to Airtel’s network only. Existing 3G users can just swap their Airtel SIM into the new device.

Pricing has not been announced, but the 8GB 3G model currently sells for over 30,000 rupees or greater than $700 US, while 16GB iPhones cost Rs36,000. Unlocked phones are available on the gray market for as little as Rs20,000.

The only 3G network operators in India are the government-owned BSNL and MTNL carriers. The government was supposed to hold auctions for 3G spectrum licenses a number of times in the past couple of years but they have repeatedly been delayed for various reasons. Currently scheduled for April, the auction will award licenses to carriers, taking effect in September, to operate 3G networks throughout India. Both Airtel and Vodafone have applied for licenses.