About five months ago (god, it’s been that long?) I got myself an iPhone. And I was thrilled. Obviously… it was (and continues to be) one of the best pieces of technology I have ever come across. Adding to this was the fact that I am a Mac user and now, my world seemed complete. (I had bought the mighty mouse a while ago!)

I am not going to gloat over the advantages and benefits of having an iPhone (these guys do it far better!) rather wonder about what do I do now? It’s like that situation where I’ve fought battles and gone across the world to save my lady love and when I do get to her, I find out she’s with someone else. Uh-oh! Of course, I am referring to the new 3G iPhone that was announced earlier this month. At $199, it costs about one-third of what I paid for my iPhone.

There is the silver lining that it will be officially in India later this year. But Airtel and Vodafone are the two bringing it home. And that doesn’t impress me. (I am struggling to get Vodafone to get me a BlackBerry connection as I write this). I am on Idea (in Pune) and they don’t have BlackBerry, never mind the iPhone!

So I’m stuck with a Rs 26,000 iPhone when the Indian version could well be available for Rs 18,000 (including 100%-plus duties and what-not) when it does become available. Considering the phone will have Apple Enterprise Cloud and I will have a Vodafone number, perhaps moving to that service with the iPhone may work. On the whole, though, I am not very pleased with the situation as it stands now.

But what are my options? None of the service providers look inviting… Idea included. Any suggestions?