Mobile life in India!
My name is Sachin, a teenage boy from India. This is my first article for Mobile love, in fact the first for a tech site. I’ve always wanted to write on something like this, but it’s MLOVE who gave me a chance to write. I thank everyone behind the curtains of MLOVE for giving me this awaited opportunity.
Mobile phones have always been a contributing flow in tech industry and will always be. Their compatibility and efficiency is what keeps them on top of the tech tree. ‘Mobile life’ in India is entirely different from what you think or of what you are experiencing. I have always liked mobile phones very much from the time I knew they existed. I have a great passion for them. Right from my old days, I used to attempt a lot of things which many people wouldn’t. I always like to use and explore each and every feature phone has to offer. What inspires me is the never ending inventions in the phone world which is being unraveled faster than ever. Here in this article I will guide you through ‘A day in my mobile life in India’.
A day in my mobile life in India
It is a warm day, and it starts by, me checking my phone for notifications. I have to try several times to refresh Facebook notifications because of the slow 2G internet. A few hours later I am out with my friend at a beach. We click photos in my phone and some of the photos get uploaded to instagram instantly. A little drag racing action on the way back and thankfully the speedometer app in my android records my top speed and 0-60 time. Most of the communications are done through texting and voice calls. It’s been more than a year since 3G came to India, and so far I haven’t seen anyone using video calls as a way of communication, though everyone was eager to experiment it for the first few times.
Everyone knows 3G is there in the air but only a handful use it. It’s also rare to find free Wi-Fi hotspots in India. Most people are forced to depend on the slow 2G network for internet as 3G is not at all practical in India. Of course it’s costly but what keeps most people away is, 3G network is still not available all over India. I use most of the popular apps from play store to keep me running, namely Instagram, Facebook, Edmondo Sports Tracker, ROM manager and Super user…. and a lot more.
Smartphones not so smart in India!
To live in India with a smartphone is pretty much of a difficult task. With nearly 90% of the features needing a decent internet connection, smartphone users find it really hard to survive in India. At times, even the ‘less data eating’ stuffs like updating one’s Facebook status is a pain. But surprisingly, the number of smartphone users in India is increasing. Almost everyone I know, use an Android phone today. But it’s a fact that most of them use their phones for calling, texting or at the most for browsing internet. A main problem faced by people in India is that, people don’t know what kind of phone to get. One of my friends got a Blackberry and it’s then he found out that he can’t use the usual internet from his operator and was forced to sell it within a week! My 12 year old cousin uses a Blackberry and he use it mostly as a torch through its camera’s LED flash! My grandfather uses an Android phone but he always complains, no matter where he touches, he ends up messy! So in general, the smart phone life in India is not that smart as it is assumed to be so!
But that doesn’t mean everyone is a noob in India. Most of the thanked developers in XDA are from India. But still it’s only a fraction of Indian population. Most people are afraid to experiment with their phone. Even my friends who saw my phone running on a custom ROM were afraid to try themselves as they had the fear of bricking their device. It took me a lot to convince them. Most of my friends now have a custom ROM in their phone and they thank me for opening their eyes and making them aware of the possibilities of a smartphone. I still remember the day on which iPhone 3G was launched. It was a big sensation here and almost all the TV news channels were showing it as if world was going to end! But after the launch, things were running opposite from what it was expected. Only few of the iPhones were sold here. The case is same with the iPhone4, 4S and 5. The main reason is that, in India something called ‘contract’ doesn’t have a lot of fans. From the time I started understanding things around me, I have never seen someone under a contract of an operator. Here everyone buys the phone separately and chooses the operator independently. And almost 90% use a prepaid connection. They just refill it as per their needs. So for one to get an iPhone5, they have to shell about 900 USD. And that’s a straight “NO” for most of the people here! According to the ‘Voice & Data’ study, the iPhone didn’t even make it into the top 10 bestselling handsets in the country, where Apple currently has less than 2 percent market share. Meanwhile, it’s in India, Nokia has a strong hold. People trust the brand very much. Even in the android chaos, a lot of people went for Nokia. But still, the huge crowd is always attracted towards Android as anywhere else in the world. People here want cheap phones while retaining the build quality and features. Samsung does a good job in it by its wide galaxy family.
As far as I’ve seen that’s what mobile phone industry in India is all about. One can’t simply release a phone here and hope it to be successful.
About me
I am Sachin Syam from Kerala, India. I am 18 years old. I will be finishing my school this year and will be joining college. My passion for mobile is something which can’t be said in a few words. I have a deep passion for mobile phones and it has given me a lot of popularity as a mobile phone enthusiast from my friends. But now my knowledge is limited and I want to explore more and more in rest of the life I have got. I always dreamt on bringing something new to this industry and I hope one day I will complete what I have in my mind. 🙂
