Google CEO Sundar Pichai has confirmed that the JioPhone Next smartphone will launch in India by Diwali. He also talked about the digital transformation in India.
Pichai said that the JioPhone Next features premium localised capabilities and is on track to launch in-market by Diwali.
JioPhone Next Launch Timeframe
He said, “We see a demand for people looking to shift from feature phones to smartphones. We are building a phone beyond just English, and getting languages, and getting the local needs right for people and doing it in a way that many more people can take advantage of a smartphone. Overall, India, just like Asia Pacific, continues to be an exciting market for us. We see strength across categories we are involved in. And so, you’ll continue to see us stay focussed there.”
He further added “On India, I think, obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard. But through it all, the people are looking for access and there’s definitely been a wave of people who have adopted smartphones, and there is still – we see the demand for people looking to shift from feature phones to smartphones”.
Jio recently confirmed that the JioPhone next will run Pragati OS, which Android powers. The company says that Pragati OS is an operating system developed by Jio and Google that is specifically designed for users in India. It will come with a voice assistant, automatic read-aloud, language translation for any on-screen text, easy and smart camera with built-in custom AR filters designed for India. In addition, Jio has released the “Making of JioPhone Next” video.
The “Translate” feature will let users have any screen translated to a language of their choice. In the camera department, the JioPhone will come with a 13-megapixel sensor. In addition, the phone will come preloaded with Jio and Google Apps.
Jio has also confirmed that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC will power the phone. The phone will be Made in India in two factories in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The production will be handled by partner Neolync.
JioPhone Next Specs (Expected)
Earlier, the phone made an appearance on the Google Play Console. The listing will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 chipset (QM215) and Adreno 306 GPU. This will be coupled with 2GB of RAM. In addition, the phone may house a 2,500mAh battery.
Further, the handset will sport a 5.5-inch HD+ display with 720 x 1440-pixels resolution. The phone will run on Android 11(Go Edition). For photography, there will be a 13-megapixel rear snapper and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. There will be two variants – 2GB RAM with 16GB of storage and 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage.