When Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off the latest iPhone 3G recently, a dream was born in every gadget savvy chap to own one. This time it was not only in the U.S. but also across the globe. This is the first time a touch screen phone mania took the world by storm. The voguish Apple gizmo, which packs a phone, audio and video player, a 2 mega pixel camera, faster Internet capabilities, and intelligent touch screen operation onto a single device in an "Apple way", is now available in the U.S for just $199 for 8GB, at half the $399 price of its predecessor; and at $299 for the 16GB version, down from $499.

In fact, this is the key reason for such a hype and hoopla around a gizmo that has been ever created in the electronics gadgets arena. Leave the Apple crazy U.S., even in the Asian countries, where only unauthorized, "Unlocked" iPhones ruled till date, the Apple fever has touched its high as thousands of excited and sleep deprived geeks besieged the Apple stores across the continent. This time the latest iPhone 3G is available in more than 70 countries including India, where the gizmo will be launched in the fall of 2008.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone announced a tie-up with Apple last month to bring the iPhone 3G to India. The companies have already started pre-registering customers for the iPhone 3G, and since then, offices and blogs have been abuzz with discussions on what Apple’s much awaited iPhone 3G will cost and whether it will be a hit in India.

But sadly, Apple fans who dreamt of singing romantic tunes with their Apple thingamabob feel ditched as their dreams are virtually shattered as the new Apple iPhone is going to be a costliest affair in India than any other countries where the iPhone is being sold. Industry pundits anticipate that the two versions will cost any where between Rs. 20,000 and 35,000 in India. As a reverberating effect, Apple will also receive its round of jolt when iPhone 3G will turn as a dud in India, not only for cost reasons, but also for business complexities it involves, when it releases iPhone 3G here.

The U.S. model Vs. Indian Scenario