So the iPhone has been launched in India. At four times the price in the US. Obviously it is aimed at the creamy layer, for whom mobile is a lifestyle statement. At a more macro level a mobile-and other such devices-are changing things more basic than style. While the potential for social transformation is well known, it is always heartening to note more and more examples. And this change is global-not just limited to India.

A study conducted by the Center for Global Development in Niger focused on the impact of using cellphones on the grain markets. In Niger, grain markets are weekly affairs and suppliers of grain need to travel long distances to gain information about supply, demand, and price in each market. The introduction of cellphones in this scenario provided a quicker and more cost-effective way for suppliers to obtain and compare information about various grain markets. The study found that the introduction of cellphones between 2001 and 2006 reduced the dispersion in grain price across markets by 6.4%, and intra-annual price variations also came down by about 10%.

Researchers have found that for service suppliers in rural settings, having a cellphone widened their market and helped them increase their incomes. This holds true for a barber in a Gujarat village or a housekeeper in China, who can be contacted by prospective customers in far-flung areas for booking their services. A study conducted by Harvard University professor, Robert Jensen, found that having cellphones enabled fishermen in Kerala to negotiate deals with prospective buyers, even before the day's catch had reached the shore. This helped increase profits for the fishermen by about 8%, while consumer prices in the local market reduced by 4%.

International Development Enterprises, a non-profit company, set up farm cooperatives in Nepal. Farmers would bring in their produce to a local sales agent, who used a mobile phone to obtain price information from various markets, and hence, negotiate a good deal.

To increase HIV/AIDS education and awareness, ZMQ Software, a gaming and e-learning company based in New Delhi, created four free mobile games as part of the company's Freedom HIV/AIDS project. The project was launched on December 1, 2005 in India. Within a year, over 10 mn game sessions had been downloaded.

Grameenphone in Bangladesh is another story based on cell phone usage. Since 1996, the telecom service provider has funded, through microcredit, cellphone kits with long-lasting batteries for women. These women then set up shop as phone operators in their villages, and earn through small commissions when villagers queue up to make and receive calls.

In the Philippines, rural banks use cellphones for microcredit and microfinance. Using a platform called G-Cash, specific mobile banking applications have been developed that enable micro- and small-business owners to use text messaging for loan repayments, salary payments, remittances, and remote deposits, without any need to travel to the bank for these. This is of great assistance in under-banked areas, where the bank is far away from the village.

Closer home is a service called aAQUA (almost all questions answered), an SMS and Web-based service run by IIT, Mumbai along with several partners. Farmers can use this service via SMS to get expert answers to a wide range of questions, such as rainfall patterns, disease forecasts for plants and animals, and so on.

I am sure there are many more such examples. And many more will come up. That need products and services that are specifically designed for a market that potentially is much larger than the premium segments. And it would be nice if these products were sold at one fourth the US prices.