Want to buy new iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 Plus? Here's Apple's India plan

Apple has updated its marketing and sales strategy to make an impact in India, the world’s third largest mobile phone market after China and the US.

The iPhones shipment used to reach Indian shores after a huge time gap and the actual sales of devices used to start even later. This time, the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will launch in India just a week after the US launch. The premium iPhone X will be rolled out in India along with the international roll out.

What else has changed is the launch timings. The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will go on sale starting September 29 at 6 PM, unlike the previous iPhone launches that used to go on sale at midnight in India. Apart from online sales through e-commerce platforms, the new iPhones will be available for purchase through offline retail stores and the sale will commence at the same time through online and offline channels.

To market the launch of much-awaited devices of the year, Apple has pooled in more than 10,000 retailers country-wide to ensure timely availability of the new products for prospective buyers. Also, the new iPhones will launch along with cashback offer on Citibank cards, which assures Rs 10,000 cashback on iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus and Rs 15,000 cashback for customers who buy the iPhone along with Apple Watch Series 3 together.

Will Apple's new augmented reality feature be the face of iOS 11?

Taking a step ahead in technology, Apple on Tuesday unveiled a handful of demonstrations of its new augmented reality (AR), displaying the efficiency of the ARKit platform and power of the new camera and A11 Bionic chip on the iPhone 8, thus diffusing the feeling of visuals placed dynamically in the real world to its viewers.

Ahead of the launch of the iOS 11 on September 19, the tech giant through its ARKit aims to bring AR to mainstream consumers by baking it directly into the iPhone and iOS, reported The Verge.

Hailed as one of the biggest upgrades to iOS this year, Apple brings a host of features to its consumer base, such as Siri translations, Apple Pay in iMessage, split screen mode on iPad, drag and drop, Do Not Disturb mode while driving and so on.

One of the much-anticipated features of this year undoubtedly remains the Face ID, which will replace the age-old touch ID in Apple's anniversary edition, iPhone X, which is deemed to be the 'future of smartphones'. Using a combination of infrared cameras and 3D depth sensing technology, the software helps recognize a user's face, or the Face ID, which can subsequently be used to unlock the phone, authorize Apple Pay payments, and even create customized animated emojis, or simply, emojis.
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With a $1,000 price tag, Apple's iPhone 8 crosses a threshold

When Apple unveils its new top-of-the-line iPhone on Tuesday, it isn’t just expected to offer features like infrared facial recognition and wireless charging for the first time.

The company will also enter new territory on price: The latest phone will start at about $1,000, compared with the $769 minimum for its current top phone, the iPhone 7 Plus.

“It’s a whole new threshold,” said Debby Ruth, a senior vice president at the tech consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates. I really do think it’s going to make people pause.”

From the iPhone’s introduction a decade ago, Apple has always priced it as a premium product — a more refined and polished alternative to the legions of cheaper smartphones available in the market.

But this time, the company is pushing into luxury territory. The new phone will cost as much as the company’s entry-level MacBook Air laptop. “They’re doubling down on their strategy: They are going much more to the high end,” Ms. Ruth said.

Apple declined to comment before the product announcements scheduled for Tuesday. (On Saturday, Steven Troughton-Smith, a developer who combed through the iOS 11 software, found references indicating that the new high-end phone will be called the iPhone X.)
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