Tag Archives: loan

The iPhone 5 launches tomorrow in Bengaluru !

 

 

 

Apple is finally launching the iPhone 5 tomorrow in India. A mail from the imagine store specifies that they would launch the iPhone 5 tomorrow. What is already a well known fact is that the iPhone 5 replaces the earlier iPhone 4S with the pricing remaining intact at about 44,500 for the 16GB version, 52,500 for the 32GB and a whopping 59,000+ for the 64GB version.

 

At the price of the 64GB version Indians could do a lot of better things like paying 6 months of rent for a house, or buying a bike, or even buying an iMac. For the more culinary oriented guys, this money can buy you 300 costa cafe mochas, or about 600 MacD burgers.

 

While the iPhone 5 definitely has a lot going for its design and functionalities with the iOS6, it still does not justify the price being double of what other smartphones that provide same or similar features. S3, or the HTC 1x for instance.

 

Where Apple shines as compared to the others is in honoring its device warranty with mostly a replacement for devices like the iPhone or the iPad or with a definitive repair for the iMac. But these goodies too come with a cost of roughly 10%-20% of the product price in terms of a yearly Apple care cost. While this is still justified for the iMac or the Macbook Pro, it most certainly looks to be an overkill for a device such as an iPad or a phone.

 

With the leading phones by HTC, Samsung and Google at roughly half the cost, Apple’s iPhone 5 pricing seems to bring down the sheen in a highly competitive market. Add to that propreitary accessories, plus inaccessibility to the file system and not much real functionality available and the recipe isn’t even worth what you are paying for. Add to that a sloppy maps and siri functionality for India, and you would be having a dead on arrival product as compared to other phones which are live and fresh at the moment.

 

Google and Samsung are right on top of the game giving Apple a tough time in terms of pricing. While Apple still would make most of its revenues in America, Europe, and UK alone, there is a fierce couter attack on the Asian side from the Korean giants Samsung and LG. LG’s upcoming nexus 4 will be butter smooth, has had a great review on major websites, plus at half the cost and much better google integration is more than ready to trounce the iPhone hands down.

 

The latest release of Google’s voice search for Apple devices only goes to prove how important Indian english as an accent is for India specific devices. The accuracy of Google’s software is simply mindblowing and more realistic than the dreamy Siri software which is more based on retrospecting on the questions asked to it. Needless to say the gaffe on the siri and maps precision has led to Apple asking its executives handling these to depart which has also led to its share price erosion to some extent and also brings to the forefront the possible bitter politics that can rear its ugly head sooner or later.

 

There is also no conclusion on whether the carriers would be launching nano-sims across the country once the device is rolled out. Most likely they will but they remain until this day tightlipped about this possibility even many of us already know too much about the iPhone. The iOS6 itself is losing some of its sheen after the jelly bean 4.2 update as the iOS6 has no great additions than what used to already be there.

 

So given the upsides and downsides of the iPhone 5 launch, would you go ahead and buy one of these? I would love to hear from you on this! Go ahead pour your comments!

 

 

 

The math of owning cars – diesel or petrol ?

There are many factors today to decide on what car to own. Compared to a few years ago, these days the fuel price of petrol has skyrocketed from about 55 bucks to a whopping 75 bucks per litre. So is it really high then or is it just a perception that owning petrol cars is now more costly? Lets do a reality check shall we?

A petrol sedan costs on the road in Bangalore, about 8.5 lacs. While a diesel version about 9.8 lacs. For about 50000km of drive irrespective of where you take it and how you finish the distance, and in how much time for calculation – we just consider the distance alone.

We further assume petrol price is 75 bucks, and the fuel economy is around 12kmpl. Similarly diesel is 46 bucks and the fuel economy is around 15kmpl (maybe more though). With this assumption, for a distance of 50000kms we need about 4167 litres of petrol and 3333 litres of diesel. The cost of this fuel is respectively Rs.312525 and Rs.153333 for 50000km of usage. Add these values to the base prices of the vehicle mentioned above and we get a cost of Rs.1112525, and Rs.1133333.

Let us take service costs for petrol to be Rs.1000 for first service, 3000 for second, 5000 for third and 7000 for fourth and 10000 for fifth. So the total here is 26000 bucks. Consider the same for diesel to be Rs.1500, 5000, 10000, 12000 and 15000 and we have a figure of 42000 bucks.

Add this again to previously computed values and we have Rs.1138525 Rs.1175333 for a petrol and diesel vehicle over about 50000km of driving.

If you were to drive about 15000km every year, you will need 3 years to manage this distance. However if you are even more conservative then perhaps 5 years to complete the same distance.

So for the first 50000km the diesel vehicle is atmost about 40000 rupees more expensive to own! Now what then differentiates the diesel from the petrol vehicle is not fuel price, service cost or features – but just the engine characteristics – not even mileage as the arithmetic is more or less close.

So tell me which one would you now consider? :-)

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iPad 2 now available in India, starts at 29,500 Rs for Wifi version and 36,900 for 3g version

ScreenHunter 02 Apr

 

Apple finally has launched its iPad 2 in India, at reasonable prices of 29,500 for the Wifi version and 36,900 for the 3g version which is quite competitive to Samsung’s tablet prices and also to Apple’s USA pricing.

In the USA the same version is available at 499$ and with about 8-10% tax that works out to ~ 525$ which in Indian money roughly translates to 24,675 bucks assuming a dollar is 47 bucks. This does not include shipping costs and is applicable only for USA store pickups and Apple online purchases.

ScreenHunter 01 Apr

 

Still the Indian version has roughly about 20% more cost making it viable to purchase one from USA directly if you know someone there. But if you need warranty for a year, immediate pickup and instantaneous nirvana, head to a Croma, or eZone or Staples store or very much to the Apple authorized iMAGINE stores and pick up the iPad right here!

With a super fast dual core A5 processor, roughly about 512MB RAM and FaceTime HD, 10 hours battery that would probably last much longer if you switch off that Wifi, and iPad Smart cover at an extra 2000 bucks, the tablet war really starts to heat up for Samsung, Acer, Asus, Motorola (if they really care about India anymore).

ScreenHunter 03 Apr

 

Apple’s main competitor remains Samsung though they collaborate within for supplies of memory chips and at lawsuit trials elsewhere! It is to be seen how Samsung prices its 10.1″ Android Honeycomb tablet in comparison to this latest salvo from Apple.

Also heating up the atmosphere would be the impending iMAC refresh with thunderbolt port, and Sandy bridge Intel core i5 processor line which will retain Apple’s products as the most powerful and easy to use for some time to come. The cost is always a question, but then to own something beautiful, one should not be too iffy about cost factor isn’t it ?

Note that its only a matter of time before HDFC, ICICI, Barclays, SBI and Citibank jump into the experience to offer the iPad 2 on EMI schemes which makes it all the more easier to own one!

(all images courtesy apple website)

 

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KHB Apartments Allotment announced for Yelahanka New town, Bengaluru

Today the TOI put up an advert from the government which has announced Apartments from KHB at yelahanka new town. You can click on the ad below for a bigger picture.

khb yelahanka

You must notice a marked shift in the pricing of the apartments this time. While one can agree that this would be in Yelahanka New Town, an 850 sqaure feet apartment is pegged at about 25.60 lacs. If we remove around 2 lacs worth of KEB and BWSSB charges, the rest turns out to be 23.60 lacs.

For an 850 square feet of SUPER BUILT UP area, this works out to a WHOPPING Rs.2,777/- per square feet. With market rates hovering between 2,000 and 2,500, KHB has set the benchmark in raising the rates around the area itself by pegging its new apartment blocks at this figure.

The following however are good points about the new residential developemnt from KHB

  • Focus on rainwater harvesting
  • Solid waste disposal unit
  • Piped LPG gas distribution and supply – one of its kind from KHB
  • Sewage treatment system
  • No common walls between flats
  • Toilets with false ceiling facilitating easy repair work
  • Mainteance and service staff get their own toilets

Lets just quickly understand how the flats look like with the available bad quality of pictures.

2BHK – 850 SFT

ScreenHunter 01 Apr

 

The only downside to this type of flat is that both bedrooms DO NOT have balconies. Also there are NO attached toilets in this type of flat.

3BHK – 1200 SFT

ScreenHunter 02 Apr

 

In this type of apartment, the following points are good:

  • Both bedrooms have balconies
  • There is a dedicated utility space
  • There is atleast one attached toilet

However, there is NO balcony for living room

3BHK – 1600 SFT

ScreenHunter 03 Apr

 

In this type of apartment, the following points are good:

  • Living room and two bedrooms have balconies
  • Dedicated utility space is provided
  • There is some additional seating/puja space next to dining area
  • There is atleast one attached toilet

There are no obvious negative points to this type of flat except its cost, which is close to 50 lacs!

Some other important points to note:

  1. Stamp duty and registration will be about 12-13% over and above indicated cost
  2. Application distribution starts 8th April, 2011
  3. Other conditions are listed here from the AD.

ScreenHunter 04 Apr

So for those interested, dont miss this opportunity. If KHB has been strategic enough this will come quite close to major bus stands, metro terminals and commuter railway stations in Yelahanka.

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Banks can sieze your property if its value is lower than than the loan you have on it!

I found an interesting article in the DNA paper Bangalore edition today that says banks are liable to label you as defaulter if there is a situation that your property’s current value falls below your loan outstanding amount. They are liable to ask you for more guarantee in terms of mortgages or for that matter sieze your house and put it up for auction. This is a thin line clause in the agreement you sign when you take the loan which we dont notice. More details from the paper given below!

If you are yet to buy a house, you should rejoice. If you have borrowed to buy one, you shouldn’t, and not only because the value of your investment is going down. Reason: Even if you have been assiduously paying your equated monthly installments (EMIs), your house is potentially under threat.Most home loan lenders put in a clause in the mortgage agreement which empowers them to seize the property or ask you to bring in extra collateral if house prices fall dramatically.

If you are not able to do so, you can be termed a defaulter, giving the bank the right to seize and sell the flat or house bought on the home loan. Typically, a default happens when the borrower of the home loan cannot carry on paying the EMIs to repay the loan. Trouble comes from an innocuous sounding “Depreciation of Security” clause, one of the 15-and-odd clauses that constitute an “event of default” in case of a home loan. A typical “Depreciation of Security” clause reads: “If any property on which the security for the loan is created depreciates in value to such an extent that, in the opinion of the bank, further security should be given and such security is not given….”

What does this legalese mean? Any bank gives out a home loan against the house as security. In case the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank can recover the loan by simply selling the flat or house. For this to happen, the market value of the flat at any point of time should be greater than or equal to the home loan that is still outstanding. To protect itself, the bank can ask for some extra security or collateral from the borrower.

If the borrower cannot come up with any extra security, the bank can term him a defaulter. On being termed a defaulter, the loan outstanding becomes due and immediately payable and the bank can take possession of the house or flat and sell it to recover the balance.

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