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A Tale of Two Phone Launches: One That Was & the One That Wasn’t 

Tuesday was going to be a busy day. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart. But were they worth it?

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A tech journalist’s life is an ‘event-full’ and a challenging one in many ways. Apart from the daily wire stories and the occasional Aadhaar hack (which has been happening a lot these days), most of our work life is about product launches, meeting company representatives, and of course, office gossip.

In my six-years of working in the media, there have been countless challenges and obstacles that I had to face, but sometimes, there are situations that a tech journalist just cannot be prepared for. And something like that happened to me today!

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Gearing Up for the ‘Big’ Announcement

Tuesday was going to be a busy day for me. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart.

Since Britzo had already blown its trumpet around town on what it would be launching, there was a lot of ambiguity on what Flipkart would be doing. There were social media posts, and in addition, many websites were talking about Flipkart’s ‘BIG’ partnership.

Like many out there, I was under the impression that Flipkart would be launching a ‘BIG’ smartphone in partnership with brands like Moto or Huawei, since these were the brands which were being talked about the most.

Turns out, neither was it any of these brands, nor was it a phone. But more on this later.

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Late, Yet On Time

So Britzo’s iVVO launch was at The Lalit in Delhi. Since there was some confusion with the cab logistics, I wasn’t able to reach in time.

When I did reach the venue, I received a welcome by a stampede of photojournalists sprinting out of the event hall, satisfied as they made the exit. I figured I was too late. The ‘Fair & Lovely’ girl Yami Gautam had left the venue, and the phones had been launched.

(I was looking forward to meeting her. I really wanted to ask her how Fair & Lovely had worked out for her. I tried it when I was young, but it didn’t do any wonders for me!)

Tuesday was going to be a busy day. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart. But were they worth it?
This picture is from before I reached. 
(Photo: value360india)

To my surprise, there was still an hour to go and a lot to see!

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The JioPhone Competitor Gone Missing

iVVO launched a bevy of 2G smart feature phones and also budget friendly 4G smart feature phones for the Indian market. The company also launched two smartphones Storm Lite and Storm Pro, which have been priced at Rs 4,999 and Rs 5,999 respectively.

Tuesday was going to be a busy day. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart. But were they worth it?
iVVO launched eight models in its 2G feature phone portfolio
(Photo: The Quint)

Its smart feature phone portfolio starts at Rs 649 and Britzo had plenty of options for the Indian market to choose from – eight models in total!

Some of the key features of the smart feature phones are expandable memory, a rear camera, wireless FM and many more. These phones seem to be loaded with a lot of features and each phone had its own USP to flaunt.

Tuesday was going to be a busy day. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart. But were they worth it?
The Beatz IV1805 costs around Rs 649 in the Indian market. 
(Photo: The Quint)

It was now time to take a closer look at the phones. Having eight phones at my disposal, I was spoilt for choice in iVVO’s 2G portfolio.

But, since my focus was on iVVO’s 4G smart feature phone, I was very eager to take a look at what the Jio Phone's competition was going to be like. After being told that the phone was being passed around among other journalists, I waited patiently for my turn.

After almost 20 minutes, I got to hear that the phone had been misplaced! Twenty minutes of my life I’d never get back.

I didn’t lose hope and still coerced the communications team to try and source the 4G smart feature phone for me. However, I was taken aback from what I heard next. “That phone isn’t available yet, we’ll get the devices next week”.

Why the stalling? Why?

I could have been told the same thing 20-minutes ago! But again, there was nothing more I could do after that other than swallow my rage along with the free lunch.

A detailed review of the device will follow when I actually get my hands on one.

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Flipkart’s ‘Big’ Announcement

After my little adventure at The Lalit, it was time to head to Le Meridian in Connaught Place for Flipkart’s announcement. Since a lot of time was spent at Britzo’s event, I was late for Flipkart’s ‘party’.

Moment’s later, I got a call from Flipkart's communications team that the event had concluded and the announcement had been made.

Since I was curious about the announcement, here’s the first thing I asked: “What was launched?”

The reply?

“This was an event to announce that Flipkart was partnering with ASUS to exclusively sell the latter's smartphones in future”.

Tuesday was going to be a busy day. I had invitations from both Britzo mobiles and Flipkart. But were they worth it?
Congratulations to Flipkart and ASUS! ‘Sorry’ I couldn’t be there. 
(Photo: text100.co.in)

And here I was, all excited that it was likely to be an exclusive Flipkart branded phone. Turns out, it wasn't all that exciting – not just yet. Not until the actual phones show up.

Well for the actual launch of the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro, you will have to wait until 23 April. And that's just a week away. So watch this space.

(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit Send.)

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Topics:  Flipkart   Asus 

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