Airtel-Apple to bring iPhone, 3G to India

After announcing a tie-up for bringing iPhone, Bharti Airtel and Apple on Tuesday extended their partnership to launch the 3G version of iPhone in India later this year, for which booking has already started.

Soon customers will be able to purchase iPhone 3G at Airtel Relationship Centers. Details of pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

iPhone 3G combines all the features of iPhone with 3G networking, which is said to be two times faster than the first generation iPhone. It has built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, a joint press release said.

It also has iPhone 2.0

software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

"We are delighted with the opportunity to bring the innovative iPhone 3G to India," said Bharti Airtel President and CEO Manoj Kohli.

"We are thrilled to be working with Bharti Airtel, India's leading integrated telecom company, to bring iPhone 3G to millions of mobile customers in India," said Apple's COO Tim Cook.

"We can't wait to get this revolutionary product in the hands of even more people around the world."