JioPhone Next rollout deferred, set to launch in time for Diwali

The company, however, said that Jio and Google made considerable progress towards launching the JioPhone Next.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio on Friday announced that it has deferred the roll-out of JioPhone Next, the low-priced smartphone developed in partnership with Google, to Diwali. The JioPhone was scheduled to launch on September 10. “Both companies have begun testing the JioPhone Next with a limited set of users for further refinement and are actively working to make it available more widely in time for the Diwali festive season,” Reliance Jio said in a statement. The company said that the delay will help the company address the ‘industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages’.

The JioPhone Next is aimed at customers who are looking for a budget-friendly smartphone in order to upgrade from 2G to 4G connectivity. (REUTERS)

The company, however, said that Jio and Google made considerable progress towards launching the JioPhone Next. It said that testing of the JioPhone Next with a limited set of users for further refinement has begun and efforts are being made to roll it out before Diwali.

Reliance Industries Ltd chairperson Mukesh Ambani made the announcement regarding its release during the company’s 44th Annual General Meeting in June. The JioPhone Next is aimed at customers who are looking for a budget-friendly smartphone in order to upgrade from 2G to 4G connectivity. The company has not revealed the price of the phone but it is expected to be packed with features like a voice assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, and smart camera with augmented reality filter.

Mukesh Ambani during Reliance’s annual shareholder meeting said that the collaboration with Google will lead to the creation of a ‘breakthrough’ product in June. “This is a testimony of a global technology giant and national technology champion working together to make truly a breakthrough product that can be first introduced in India and then taken to the rest of the world,” Ambani said

Google CEO Sundar Pichai during Reliance’s 44th AGM in June said that JioPhone Next is a step towards making technology more affordable to Indians and said that the collaboration is a testament to Google’s vision of bringing affordable access to information for Indians in their own language and to build new products and services for India’s unique needs.