RIL AGM 2021: Reliance Jio, Google jointly announce JioPhone Next

Android OS-powered JioPhone Next will go on sale in India on September 10.

JioPhone Next launched (RIL)

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) hosted its 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 24, where chairman Mukesh Ambani announced a shift of the company's traditional oil and natural gas business to sustainable energy sources. In addition to announcing updates to its energy business, Reliance Jio also announced its next-generation phone -- JioPhone Next.

The JioPhone Next comes as a result of Reliance Industries' partnership with Google that was announced last year. To give you a quick recap, while sharing the details of Jio Platforms' partnership with Google at the 43rd AGM last year, Ambani had said that together the two companies will launch a low-cost smartphone that will run on a customised version of the Android operating system. A year later, Reliance Jio kept its word by launching the JioPhone Next. It is the first 4G-enabled smartphone launched by the company. JioPhone and JioPhone 2, on the other hand, were feature phones.

At the company's 44th AGM today, the Reliance Industries' chairman said that the JioPhone Next has been jointly developed by Google and Reliance Jio teams and it runs on a highly optimised version of Google's Android operating system that has been customised specially for this device.

While Ambani didn't go into the detailed specifications of the JioPhone Next, he did say that the phone will come with some ‘cutting-edge features' such as voice assistant support, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, and a smart camera with augmented reality (AR) filters among others. In addition to that, we know that the JioPhone next features support for latest Android updates.

As far as the availability is concerned, the JioPhone Next will be available in India starting September 10, 2021. “It will by far be the most affordable 4G smartphone not only in India but in the world,” Ambani said at the event.

In addition to that, Reliance Industries also strengthened its partnership with Google Cloud over 5G connectivity. At the event, Ambani said that Reliance Industries will shift its core business to Google Cloud.

Apart from this, Ambani said that JioFiber has 3 million users in India and that it has reached nearly 12 million homes and businesses premises in the country.