The Reliance Jio and Google mission for the super affordable 4G phone called JioPhone Next is very much making good progress. The two tech giants have confirmed that JioPhone Next is now in the testing phase with a limited set of users at this time, with the expectation that it’ll be available in stores ahead of the Diwali festival a few weeks from now. Reliance Jio also says that plans are very much in place to mitigate the global shortage of semiconductors, which has impacted the tech and auto industries extensively. The JioPhone Next is being developed by Reliance Jio and Google and will be a super affordable made-in-India 4G smartphone. The JioPhone Next was first announced by Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd., at the company’s 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM), earlier this year.
The critical ingredient for this Android phone may well be the Google partnership, in terms of development and optimization of this customized version of Android, which will give the JioPhone Next the performance advantage which not many ultra-affordable affordable Android phones have. At the time, Ambani had said that the JioPhone Next will be a “truly breakthrough smartphone”. We do not know the pricing just yet, but Reliance Jio has insisted that the JioPhone Next will be amongst the most affordable smartphones not just in India, but globally.
What do we know about the features? JioPhone Next users will get access to key Android services, including the Google Play Store. Some of the features that have been announced include voice assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation and smart camera with augmented reality filters. The Read Aloud and Translate Now will be system-wide features that will work with any text on their phone screen, including web pages, apps, messages, and even photos. The camera in the JioPhone Next will be optimised for low-light and dynamic range. Google has also partnered with Snap to integrate Indian-specific Snapchat Lenses directly into the phone’s camera. Google also confirms that the JioPhone Next will get the latest Android security updates as well as Android releases, though the support window isn’t confirmed at this time.
“Jio has truly democratized digital connectivity in India by offering the highest quality, most affordable 4G broadband services in the world. Google and Jio teams have jointly developed a truly breakthrough smartphone,” said Mukesh Ambani. Reliance Jio has more than 427 million subscribers and counting in India, as of numbers released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in July. Airtel follows in second position with 352 million users, and counting.
Once Reliance Jio crossed 400 million users on the network last year, it become the first mobile operator outside of China to cross the 400 million user mark. Reliance Jio is also the world’s second largest data carrier, with as much as 630 crore gigabytes (GB) of data traffic on the network every month, according to numbers shared by the company.
Jio has also invested as much as Rs 57,123 crore to get additional spectrum for their 4G network, and say that almost all of the new spectrum has been deployed. Reliance Jio says that they can add another 200 million new subscribers to their network, at its current specification. Jio is also expected to invest heavily in 5G mobile networks, with the current commercial tests proving to be a consistent success.
“Our vision is to bring affordable access to information for Indians in their own language, to build new products and services for India’s unique needs, and to empower businesses with technology. I’m excited that today, we can announce the next steps in this vision, starting with a new, affordable Jio smartphone, created with Google. Our teams have optimized a version of our Android OS especially for this device,” Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet, had said when announcing the partnership with Reliance Jio for the JioPhone Next.
The JioPhone Next 4G phone will run an optimised version of Android, with the core Android functionality available for all users. This would include the Play Store as well as Play Protect. More specs of the JioPhone next, as well as the pricing and the subscription options for Jio prepaid and Jio postpaid users are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The promise of this being a super affordable Android phone, would have many potential customers waiting impatiently.
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