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iOS 6 users in India will miss some key features, but plenty to cheer

iOS 6 users in India will miss some key features, but plenty to cheer

By Gaurav Shukla | Updated: 20 September 2012 13:03 IST

In all the hype surrounding the new iPhone, quite a few things get missed, and the country-specific feature availability is one of them. Due to some or the other reasons not all software features tend to reach every market, and same is the case with iOS 6, which is powering the iPhone 5. (See: 10 new features in Apple's new iOS 6)
Apple claims that iOS 6 is bringing over 200 new features, but not all iOS 6 features will be available in India. Here is a look at the key missing features.

Maps
Ditching Google, Apple introduced its own mapping application in iOS 6 and as expected the company does not have data to support all the map features in India. The consumers in the country will only have access to standard/satellite maps and the local search. Rest of the mapping features including directions, turn-by-turn navigation, 3D buildings, Traffic and Business Reviews and photos will not be currently available in the country. Last we saw, even the data that is available in Apple Maps is very sparse and nowhere near the quality of Google Maps.

The non-availability of turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic is especially going to be missed by Apple iPhone 5 customers as Google had recently released free turn-by-turn voice navigation in India along with real-time traffic information.

Siri
Apple has also introduced several new features in its voice assistant Siri, including making it better at answering subjective questions and providing information about movies, restaurants and other things.

Apple is also partnering with Yelp to provide ratings and prices of restaurants via Siri. But none of this is accessible with Siri in India, and nor are sports, Twitter integration, Facebook integration or local search. Quite a bummer! (Source)

Passbook
Apple wants us to get rid of our wallets by introducing Passbook, but that's unlikely to happen in India anytime soon. The company might provide Passbook app as a part of iOS 6 in the country, but it will be pretty useless, considering there are no airline/retail/cinema partners that will accept Passbook as the replacement of normal tickets.

Passbook normally allows users to keep their boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more in one place. With Passbook, they can scan their iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie and redeem a coupon.

Other features like films and TV shows from iTunes store, which were already not accessible to Indian users, wouldn't be available in iOS 6 either. (Source)

See: 10 new features in Apple's new iOS 6

Good News

But it's not all doom and gloom. While all these features might not be reaching India, several other features which will soon be making their Indian debut.

Facebook Integration
Yes, now iOS devices will have deep Facebook integration as well. Previously only Twitter integration was present in iOS. You can post pictures and videos directly to your Facebook account or share links from Safari with just a couple of clicks.

FaceTime over 3G
Apple's video calling feature FaceTime is finally going to include 3G support and unless local operators decide to block it (some reports indicate that AT&T might play spoilsport), Indian users should benefit as well. However, only iPhone 4S, new iPad and iPhone 5 users will be able to make FaceTime calls over 3G.

Safari
There are a few cool additions to Safari as well. Apple has announced that you can view webpages in full-screen in landscape mode, or save them for offline reading. A new feature "iCloud Tabs", is also making its debut. Thanks to this, you'll now be able to pick up where you left off on any iCloud-connected iOS/OS X device.

Others
Similarly, there are several other features including Shared Photo Streams, improved Email, and phone controls, which will be available to Indian users.

In other news, iOS 6 will not only be available to iPhone 5 buyers, but also to iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, new iPad, and iPod Touch users. Apple iOS 6 download will be available starting September 19 to these consumers.

See: 10 new features in Apple's new iOS 6

iPhone 5 launch in pics

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