Google and Jio jointly develop affordable smartphone JioPhone Next

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the 'JioPhone Next' smartphone, jointly developed by Jio and Google, at the company's 44th annual general meeting.

Market reports suggest that the smartphone may be priced around Rs5,000, making it one of the most affordable Androi phones. 

Based on an optimised operating system that is leveraged from Android and Play Store with features that are built specially for JioPhone Next, the new smartphone is aimed at addressing the unique needs of millions of smartphone users across India, a Reliance Industries Ltd release stated.

Jiophone Next will enable users to consume content and navigate the phone in their preferred language, deliver a great camera experience, and get the latest Android features and security updates, says the release.

"Jio has truly democratised 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 that we are calling JioPhone Next. JioPhone Next is powered by an extremely optimised version of the Android operating system. While being ultra-affordable, JioPhone Next is packed with cutting-edge features like the Google Assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, smart camera with augmented reality filters and much more. This is testimony to a global technology company and a national technology champion working jointly to make a break-through product. JioPhone Next will be available in the market from the auspicious date of Ganesh Chaturthi, 10 September, this year," Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Limited, said. 

“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...It is built for India and it will open up new possibilities for millions of new users who will experience the internet for the very first time,” Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet, said in a virtual appearance at Reliance AGM.

Pichai said the company has also entered into a 5G cloud partnership with Jio Platforms. “It will help more than a billion Indians connect to a faster and better internet, support businesses in their digital transformation, and help Jio build new services in sectors like health, education and more — laying a foundation for the next phase of India’s digitization,” said the chief executive of Google, which last year committed to invest $10 billion in India. As part of the 5G cloud partnership, Google is also winning a major Google Cloud customer in Reliance, Pichai said.

“They will be able take advantage of Google’s AI and machine learning, e-commerce, and demand forecasting offerings. Harnessing the reliability and performance of Google Cloud will enable these businesses to scale up as needed to respond to customer demand,” he added.

How to use Jiophone Next:

For users who might not be able to read content in their language, with a tap of a button they can now translate what’s on their screen, and even have it read back to them in their own language. Read Aloud and Translate Now are now OS-wide features that will work with any text on their phone screen, including web pages, apps, messages, and even photos. Using App Actions, people can utilise their Google Assistant to deliver a great experience with many of the Jio apps on this device. In addition to asking for the latest cricket scores or a weather update, users can also ask Google Assistant to play music on JioSaavn or check their balance on My Jio.

Google and Jio’s teams have partnered closely to build an optimised experience within the phone’s camera helping to produce better images and videos, including clearer photos at night and in low-light situations. Google has partnered with Snap to integrate Indian-specific Snapchat lenses directly into the phone’s camera, and promises to continue updating this.

Jio Platforms Limited, a majority-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, has built a world-class all-IP data strong future proof network with latest 4G LTE technology (through its wholly owned subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited). It is the only network conceived and born as a mobile video network from the ground up and supporting Voice over LTE technology. It is future ready and can be easily upgraded to support even more data, as technologies advance on to 5G, 6G and beyond.