Update: A new update from Tecno reveals that starting Dec. 1, the first 10,000 Spark Go 5G buyers will receive a complimentary 1-month Jio Truly Unlimited 5G prepaid plan valued at Rs 349.

Original story continues…

Tecno has announced a significant milestone after clearing the network enhancement criteria established by Jio. According to the company and Jio, Tecno is the first smartphone brand in India to meet the stringent requirements for the operator’s true 5G rollout. This breakthrough reveals that Tecno’s devices will now perform reliably even in areas with challenging connectivity.

Tecno’s integration with Jio true 5G network

Technically, Tecno has integrated several of Jio’s network upgrade features to maximise performance on the 5G standalone network. Its new “Tecno Signal Core” system supports full 5G SA compatibility, which helps deliver faster speeds and stable signal even in crowded or weak signal zones.

The company has implemented new radio carrier aggregation supporting critical frequency bands including n28 to improve coverage in suburbs and rural zones. Voice over New Radio (VoNR) is enabled for high-definition voice calls over the 5G network. Tecno also supports dynamic slot aggregation, key local bands for widespread coverage throughout India, and Smart Signal Detection for rapid network recovery.

On the software side, Tecno offers 4G+5G DSDA functionality and a visual 5G+/5G++ icon logic to help users verify active strong signals. The hardware antennas and reception performance have been tuned for better performance in busy areas and remote places.

This achievement strengthens Tecno’s presence across India, especially in small towns and villages where signal quality varies drastically. Users looking for a smartphone that stays connected consistently in demanding environments should consider Tecno’s lineup. The collaboration can benefit consumers switching to 5G or living in regions where network reliability is often unpredictable.

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The Honor 90 5G has officially received support for Reliance Jio eSIMs. The CEO of HTech, Madhav Sheth, confirmed the telecom operator’s eSIM connectivity for this smartphone model. So here are all the details.

Honor 90 5G Supports Jio eSIM

The senior executive revealed that the Chinese smartphone maker is rolling out eSIM connectivity for the Honor 90 on his official X account (formerly Twitter). Looking at the tweet, the CEO shared screenshots that revealed support for Reliance Jio eSIM. These screenshots also confirm that the eSIM can be used along with the physical SIM card. The device is confirmed to support 5G network on the eSIM connection.

Madhav Sheth further added that they will be collaborating with other network providers in the region in the upcoming months. So we can expect other eSIM support arriving for other major telecom operators as well. The support for eSIM also arrives months after the Honor 90’s India launch. To recall, the Honor 90 5G sports a tall 6.7-inch AMOLED display that has a Full HD+ resolution, 1,600nits of peak brightness, and 120Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, it is equipped with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC that is paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. The rear packs a 200-megapixel triple camera setup, while the front houses a 50-megapixel selfie shooter. A large 5,000mAh battery pack powers this model, which also supports 66W wired fast charging. Other notable features include 193 grams in weight, a slim 7.8mm body, Bluetooth 5.2, an in-display fingerprint scanner, GPS, and stereo speakers.

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Reliance Jio has launched a new affordable car accessory called JioMotive (2023) in India. It is a Plug-n-Play OBD device that provides a range of smart features to keep your vehicle and you safe and connected.

For those unaware, An OBD (on-board diagnostics) is a device that taps into your car’s self-diagnostic capabilities to provide real-time data on its performance and potential issues. This data can be used to avoid costly repairs, improve maintenance, and ensure that your car runs smoothly.

JioMotive (2023) Features

Here is a detailed look at the features of the JioMotive (2023) device:

• Real-time vehicle tracking: The JioThings app allows users to track the whereabouts of their car 24×7.
• Geo and time fencing: Users can create geo-fences of any shape and size and receive instant alerts when their car enters or exits a geo-fence. They can also set time fences to receive alerts when their car is used outside of pre-defined hours.
• Vehicle health monitoring: The JioMotive device monitors the car’s health and provides alerts for over 100 different diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs). This helps users to identify and address potential problems early on.
• Driving behavior analysis: The JioMotive device analyzes the driver’s driving behavior and provides insights on aspects such as fuel efficiency, harsh braking, and acceleration. This can help users to improve their driving habits.
• Other features: The JioMotive device also offers a number of other features, such as:
• In-car Wi-Fi
• Towing, tampering, and accident alerts
• Speed tracking
• 10-second latency

JioMotive (2023) Price and Availability

The JioMotive is priced at Rs 4,999 in India and is available for purchase on Amazon, Reliance Digital, and Jio.com. 

Related:

• JioBharat B1 feature phone with inbuilt UPI, 2.4-inch display & 4G connectivity launched in India
• Nokia 105 Classic feature phone with in-built UPI launched for ₹999 ($12)
• New Nokia 130 Music and Nokia 150 feature phones launched in India with a 2.4-inch display and expandable storage
• Nokia 110 4G (2023) & 110 2G feature phones with inbuilt UPI launched in India

(Via)

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At the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) event today, Reliance Jio unveiled a new mobile phone in the Indian market called the JioPhone Prima 4G. Though it might look like a typical feature phone, it supports many popular apps like YouTube and WhatsApp.

Key features of the JioPhone Prima 4G include 4G connectivity, an 1800mAh battery, and support for 23 languages. It has a premium, rounded design with a Jio logo encased within concentric circles on the rear panel and a thickness of just 1.55cm.

Under the hood, the JioPhone Prima 4G is powered by an ARM Cortex A53 processor with 128GB expandable storage. It supports FM Radio and features a 3.5mm audio jack. Running on KaiOS, it offers a single SIM slot and Bluetooth version 5.0. For those unfamiliar with KaiOS, it is a mobile operating system that is designed for smart feature phones. It is based on the Firefox OS open-source project and supports over 1200 apps including WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, and Google Maps.

The JioPhone Prima 4G comes with a bunch of pre-loaded apps including YouTube, JioTV, Jio Cinema, JioSaavn, JioNews, etc.

Pricing & availability

The JioPhone Prima 4G is priced at Rs 2,599 and is available in blue and yellow variants on JioMart. Launch offers include cashback deals, bank offers, and coupons.

RELATED:

• JioBharat B1 feature phone with inbuilt UPI, 2.4-inch display & 4G connectivity launched in India
• Nokia 105 Classic feature phone with in-built UPI launched for ₹999 ($12)
• New Nokia 130 Music and Nokia 150 feature phones launched in India with a 2.4-inch display and expandable storage
• Nokia 110 4G (2023) & 110 2G feature phones with inbuilt UPI launched in India

(Source)

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Indian telecom giant, Jio, has introduced the JioBharat B1 feature phone, expanding its array of user-friendly, budget-friendly devices. The new feature phone is designed with a specific focus on tier 3 users in India. With its larger display and enhanced battery life, the JioBharat B1 offers an affordable gateway to video content and UPI payments via the JioPay app.

The design of the JioBharat B1 blends matte and glossy elements. The matte finish covers the back panel, clad with the iconic Jio logo. On the other hand, the glossy visor-like camera module accommodates a single QVGA camera and a loudspeaker grille.

What sets the JioBharat B1 apart from its predecessors is its large 2.4-inch display, perfect for enjoying video content with 4G connectivity. The phone is powered by a substantial 2,000mAh battery, ensuring an extended usage period on a single charge.

In line with the JioBharat tradition, the JioBharat B1 comes pre-loaded with apps like JioCinema, JioSaavn & JioPay (UPI). The device also supports 23 native languages for reading and boasts the convenience of the JioPay app for UPI payments and QR code scanning.

Pricing & availability

The JioBharat B1 feature phone is available in a sleek black color and can be conveniently acquired from Amazon or official Jio outlets, all for a pocket-friendly price of just Rs 1,299. To unlock the full potential of this feature phone, Jio users need to opt for a recharge plan of Rs 123 or higher.

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Reliance Jio has today launched the Jio AirFiber— its integrated end-to-end solution for home entertainment, smart home services, and high-speed broadband. The service has been launched in 8 Indian cities and you can subscribe for a starting fee of ₹599 and a maximum payment of ₹3999. The benefits vary from plan to another.

“With JioAirFiber, we are expanding our addressable market to rapidly cover every home in our country with similar quality of service. JioAirFiber will enable millions of homes with world-class digital entertainment, smart home services and broadband, through its solutions across education, health, surveillance, and smart home,” said Akash Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited.

Jio AirFiber will offer users access to more than 550 digital TV channels and they will be able to use Catch-up TV. The service will also bring over sixteen different OTT app subscriptions. With Jio AirFiber, users will also get high-speed WiFi Service, covering their entire premise, be it home or office space.

Jio AirFiber will also offer home services such as Cloud PC for education and work from home. The service will also help provide security and surveillance solutions, healthcare, education, smart home IoT, gaming, home networking, and more. Jio AirFiber users will receive three devices for free with their subscription: a Wi-Fi router, a 4K smart set-top box, and a voice-activated remote.

Detailed prices of the Jio AirFiber can be seen in the image below:

Jio AirFiber has initially been launched in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. You can book AirFiber for yourself from the official Jio website. Once you apply, Jio will get in touch with you and connect your home on priority, as soon as services in your building are ready.

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Multiple announcements related to Jio 5G rollout, Jio AirFiber, and Jio Smart Home have been made at the Reliance AGM 2023. Interestingly, the Jio AirFiber service will make a commercial launch on September 19. Jio is already testing AirFiber service at some locations, and the recent announcement has paved the way for a broader rollout in India.

Related: Jio might soon launch 2 new Jio Phones in India, surfaces on BIS

Jio AirFiber Launch

Jio is set to take a lead in the Air Fiber market with the early launch as Airtel also formally announced its Xstream AirFiber services in India. The carrier can connect 150,000 connections in a day with AirFiber. However, Jio Fiber broadband is limited to 15,000 connections per day.

“We can currently connect around 15,000 premises daily, but with Jio AirFiber, we can supercharge this expansion with up to 150,000 connections per day. This is a 10-fold increase, expanding our addressable market over the next three years to over 200 million high-paying homes and premises,” said Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani at the company’s annual general meeting Monday.

Jio Home app will act as a management console for the Jio AirFiber service. It will allow the users to manage users, grant and restrict usage access, and other connection details via the app. On top, Jio also announced an AI-driven Proactive Quality Monitoring feature that will automatically analyze and optimize the WiFi network for the best performance.

The Jio AirFiber pricing structure is not yet out. But, Jio will compete against Airtel’s Xtream AirFiber which starts with a $10 plan per month for a 100Mbps speed. In addition, there’s a $30 security deposit while availing the service.

Jio 5G Coverage

In addition, Jio aims to establish 5G connectivity across every town in India by December 2023. The carrier also has 450 million subscribers in India with an average of 25GB of data consumption per month. The company used a 100% in-house developed 5G stack for 5G rollout consisting of Carrier Aggregation, Network Slicing, Standalone 5G architecture, etc.

“And our focus on continuous innovation has positioned us to be among the first globally to develop 6G capabilities. In fact, we have become one of the largest filers of global patents from India for digital technologies, affirming our transformation from a telecom operator to a technology company,” he said.

Must See: Jio Cloud PC to be powered by Jio True 5G, launch seems imminent

It would be interesting to see the pricing and quality of service after its launch on September 19. Further, there are plenty of other announcements made at the Reliance AGM 2023.

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Jio is apparently planning on launching new smartphones in the Indian market soon. Reliance Industries may host its annual AGM event later this month, where it is expected to unveil its latest 5G smartphone offerings. But ahead of this event, a new BIS listing has revealed that there are two new models in the works. So let’s have a look.

New 5G Jio Phones may be announced on August 28

The company is expected to hold its AGM event on August 28. Recently, we have covered certain rumors and reports regarding this device, but a BIS sighting further cements these leaks. The listing was spotted by known tipster Mukul Sharma that shared the details in a tweet. The listing revealed that the upcoming Jio Phones will be manufactured in Noida.

Additionally, there are two models that are in the works, carrying the model numbers JBV161W1 and JBV162W1. Unfortunately, the listing does not reveal any other finer details regarding the device like its specifications and pricing. In our previous report, we covered leaked images of the new Jio Phone 5G, which likely carries one of these model numbers.

The smartphones will likely debut in the region later this month and could very well be the cheapest 5G phone in India. Based on what we know so far, the device may sport a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 SoC may power this device that is paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The rear features a 13-megapixel dual camera setup, while the front houses an 8-megapixel selfie shooter.

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India’s biggest telecom service provider, Jio, has launched a new laptop in the country. The new JioBook (2023) is an affordable laptop with specifications suitable enough for schoolgoers. You get an octa-core MediaTek MT 8788 processor under the plastic body of the machine. The JioBook 4G comes with an embedded Jio SIM card, dual-band Wi-Fi, and an HDMI mini port. There’s a decent 5,000mAh battery on the laptop that should last you up to 8 hours.

JioBook (2023) Specifications

The new JioBook comes as a budget laptop, which is evident by its plastic build and the price, of course. You can get the laptop in a blue shade, similar to what you see on the brand’s logo.  It features an 11.6-inch HD display with a 768 X 1,366 pixels resolution. Notably, the laptop comes with an inbuilt 4G SIM card, which should let you make calls and access the internet.

It runs on an octa-core MediaTek MT8788 processor, which should be an upgrade over the last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC. The chipset comes paired with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage. Similar to a smartphone, you can expand this laptop’s storage up to 256GB via a microSD card.

JioBook (2023) comes with a slew of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, an HDMI mini port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There are dual stereo speakers and a 2MP web camera. It is fueled by a 5,000mAh battery, which Jio claims lasts up to eight hours on a single charge.

JioBook (2023) Price and Availability

The JioBook (2023) is available for purchase in India at Rs. 16,499. Jio offers the laptop in a single blue color option. It is up for pre-order on Amazon and Reliance Digital, with the sale starting on August 5th.

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*Please Note: When you buy something using the links in our articles, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

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Reliance Jio has launched a new feature phone in India. It is dubbed Jio Bharat. The device is the cheapest feature phone with 4G connectivity. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate aims to enable existing 250 million feature phone users with internet-enabled phones. Read on to know what it offers out of the box. 

Jio Bharat specifications and features

The Jio Bharat feature phone comes with a 1.77-inch display and a T9-style keypad. It has a 0.3MP VGA rear camera. The device is loaded with a host of features like FM Radio, torchlight, support for 23 languages, headphone jack, etc. The feature phone supports UPI and users can make payments via the JioPay app. 

The company says that Jio Bharat offers clear voice quality on calls and wide network coverage across India.  The device also features JioCinema and JioSaavn for entertainment purposes like watching movies, sports, and listening to music in multiple languages. The feature phone offers internet browsing with 4G connectivity. 

The Jio Bharat is priced at Rs 999 making it the cheapest 4G feature phone in India. It comes in Red and Blue color options. The company has also announced tariff plans for the phone starting at Rs 123 with 23 days validity, unlimited calls, and 14GB of data. There is also an annual plan priced at Rs 1,234 and it offers 0.5 GB data per day and unlimited voice calls. The Jio Bharat feature phone will be available as part of a beta trial starting from 7th July. It will be available across all Reliance and Jio stores across India. 

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The Jio Cloud PC launch might be right around the corner. The company is apparently in its pre launch phase after a company executive confirmed that the official announcement will be held soon.

Jio Cloud PC set to launch in India soon

The news arrives from Shelton Rego, VP Cloud, Jio Platforms. He stated that the upcoming Cloud PC will be announced in the market soon. For those unaware, the Indian telecom giant is working on a new cloud based virtual PC. This PC was built in collaboration with known PC brands like Dell, GP, and Lenovo to build the actual product. As of right now, it is confirmed that the new Cloud PC will be powered by Jio True 5G and will feature the brand’s proprietary virtual display infrastructure (VDI).

Furthermore, the executive also added that the Jio Cloud PC will use JioAirFiber at launch. As of right now, the company is expanding its 5G networking infrastructure. Although, it is already available in 4,332 cities and towns across multiple states and Union Territories in India. So, it isn’t surprising that the company will have its cloud based computer leverage its telecom infrastructure for the newer and faster technology. Notably, this product will follow the company’s recently unveiled JioDrive VR Headset in the region.

Unfortunately, finer details like the specifications or pricing regarding this PC is still unclear. However, Jio typically launches products at prices that are affordable to the mass consumers, so we can expect its initial cost or eventual upgrades to follow a similar philosophy as well. So stick around for more as we will be offering updates when additional information is available regarding this product.

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India is seeing a massive expansion of its network infrastructure to accommodate 5G connectivity. The latest addition is the Jio 5G services that rolled out to fifty cities. Jio 5G services in India now span 184 cities spread across the regions. Jio continues to serenade its customers with the super-fast 5G connectivity on offer.

Jio is offering data speeds up to 10Gbps via the Jio Welcome Offer to users in new locations. The latest rollout in 50 cities includes Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Rajasthan, among others. The Jio Welcome Offer opened on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

Jio, in a statement, stated that the company is thrilled to launch the Jio True 5G services in 50 additional locations. Jio says the latest rollout is the largest rollout of 5G anywhere in the world. The rollout delivers high-speed network connectivity to millions of Jio network users. The company says it has stepped up the speed and intensity of True 5G for the benefit of its customers.

Jio plans to scale up its 5G network services to all parts of India by December this year. It says it has continued to enjoy support from the various state governments in its quest to digitize every region. The potential benefits for Jio are quite immense. The rollout could engender an expansion of its customer base as users seek faster data connectivity. The implications of full 5G penetration in India open up new vistas of development.

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(via)

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Reliance Jio, India’s leading telecom service provider, has quietly launched two new prepaid plans to offer more options to its customers. These plans are priced at Rs 899 and Rs 349 and have validity periods of 90 and 30 days, respectively. They are available on the MyJio app, the Jio website, and other notable platforms. The newly launched prepaid plans offer unlimited calls, 2.5GB daily data, and more. Here’s everything you should know.

According to the details available on the company’s official website, the Rs. 349 prepaid tariff comes with 2.5GB of daily data, meaning 75 GB of data in total. It will offer unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS per day for 30 days. In addition, customers will get free access to Jio’s proprietary services, such as JioCinema, JioTV, JioCloud, and JioSecurity. Not to mention the eligible users will have unlimited 5G coverage.

Moving to the Rs. 899 prepaid plan. It comes with similar benefits as the Rs. 349 prepaid plan but with extended validity. The tariff provides 2.5GB of daily data as well as unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS per day for 90 days. It also includes free access to JioCinema, JioTV, JioCloud, and JioSecurity. Unlimited 5G coverage is available in this one as well.

Notably, Jio also has an Rs. 2023 plan that offers the same benefits as the above two plans but has a larger validity period. It comes with a validity period of 252 days and a total of 630GB of high-speed data. Interested readers can recharge with these new prepaid plans through the MyJio app, Jio website, and other payment platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and more.

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Two of India’s leading telecom providers are Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. Both providers had recently launched their 5G network services across the nation. Both telecom behemoths have also expanded their 5G service to a few selected Indian cities in a very short span of time.  The prices of their tariff plans were supposed to go up after the 5G network launched, but this didn’t happen right away. Whatever the case, it appears that both industry giants are planning to raise the prices of their tariff plans across the nation.

According to analysts at Jefferies, mobile bills could increase soon as telecoms are expected to raise prices by as much as 10%. According to the brokerage’s most recent analysis, 10% pricing increases from Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are predicted to be announced in the fourth quarters of FY23, FY24, and FY25. The telcos have already reaped most of the benefits of the recent tariff increase, and pressure is mounting on their revenue and margins. Analysts claim that this requires telcos to raise their rates.

Airtel removed the 99-pack in a few circles earlier this year to test the rate rise boundaries. The tariff increase strategy, according to analysts at Jefferies, is ideal for the telco’s intentions to expand into rural areas, which would likely further reduce profits. Airtel’s EBITDA margin decreased from 43.7% in Q1 to 36.9% in Q2. Additionally, analysts at Jefferies claimed that rising subscriber attrition and requests for mobile number portability (MNP) indicated escalating competition in the Indian telecom industry.

“The increase in MNP requests over the previous five months suggests increased market competitiveness for customers. The greater churn rates observed during Q2 FY23 across telcos are more evidence of this, according to the Jefferies analysis.
Jio and Airtel combined attracted 2.2 million new users, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) subscriber data for October 2022. However, Vodafone Idea’s troubles persisted as its subscriber base shrank by 3.5 million.

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Only a few months ago, the official launch of India’s 5G network was announced. Two of the industry’s top behemoths were Jio and Airtel. While Airtel is leveraging the current 4G infrastructure to deliver the 5G technology, and their full coverage may take some time, Jio is working on standalone 5G technology and has pledged to reach all of India with 5G by the end of 2023. It has been reported that up to 50 different Indian cities are now covered by the 5G network as both telecom companies are deploying 5G at a rapid rate.

Prior to addressing Tier-based cities, the operators are focusing on covering metropolitans and megacities. Both providers’ 5G networks have already been extended to major cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Delhi. The list of cities that are compatible with 5G networks has since been expanded by the telecom giants.

Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed the information during the parliamentary question period. The minister stated in response to a question in the parliament that “Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have started offering 5G services in the country from January 1, 2022, onward, and as of November 26, 2022, 5G services have started in 50 towns.” He also emphasises the fact that both providers presently offer 5G services at no additional charge.

Airtel customers can access 5G if they move to an area that is covered by 5G support without any invitation or something, whereas Jio is now offering invite-only access to 5G. A 5G-capable device is necessary, though. However, it is important to note that Jio is presently dominating the country’s 5G network fluency by offering a quicker and more reliable speed when compared to Airtel. Since neither of them has yet reached the mature level, they are both now in their starting stages. As time goes on, we might start to notice other improvements.

Currently, only a few cities, including Delhi, Siliguri, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurugram, Panipat, Guwahati, and Patna, have access to Airtel 5G. Jio, on the other hand, has a larger coverage area thanks to the 5G network that is being deployed in cities like Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Mumbai, Varanasi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Nathdwara, Pune, and Ghaziabad. Unexpectedly, all 33 district headquarters in Gujarat now have access to Jio True 5G.

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Reliance Jio, which is India’s leading telco, also manufactures affordable smartphones targeting close-fisted consumers. The company had previously launched the Jio 4G smartphone, and now it is reportedly working on a new 5G smartphone, dubbed Jio Phone 5G. The handset is expected to launch soon, but ahead of it, a new report has revealed its pricing. Here are the details.

According to a new report by Counterpoint Research, Reliance Jio will price its first 5G smartphone in the range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 (Via). Jio would wait for its 5G network to spread before targeting a bigger base of mass-market 4G smartphone consumers with its 5G smartphones.

“Further, at some point in 2024, Jio will also be compelled to launch an affordable 5G mmWave + sub-6GHz smartphone as the cost deltas between the two have narrowed significantly from the overall BoM (bill of materials) fitting perspective,” the report said.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, announced at the Reliance AGM 2022 that Jio will launch ultra-affordable 5G phones in collaboration with Google. Although, he did not give any pricing information.

Previous reports suggest the affordable Jio 5G smartphone will have a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with an HD+(1600 x 720 pixels) resolution. The smartphone may feature a dual-camera system at the rear consisting of a 13MP primary lens which will be capable of shooting 1080p videos at 60fps and 720p slow-mo videos at 120fps. It will also have a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, the device is said to have an 8MP selfie camera.

Under the hood, the JioPhone 5G could be powered by the 8nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The device could pack a 5,000mAh battery and support 18W fast charging support.

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The post Jio Phone 5G will reportedly be priced Between Rs 8,000 – Rs 12,000 appeared first on Gizmochina.

After waiting for years, India will finally get 5G connectivity soon. Airtel, one of the largest Telecom service providers in the country, has announced that it will start rolling out 5G connectivity in India by the end of August. The telco has signed an agreement with Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung for the implementation of 5G network.

“We are delighted to announce that Airtel will commence roll out of 5G services in August. Our network agreements are finalised and Airtel will work with the best technology partners from across the world to deliver the full benefits of 5G connectivity to our consumers,” an Airtel press release noted.

To recall, the Department of Telecom in India recently conducted a spectrum auction where Airtel acquired a 19867.8 MHZ spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz frequency for Rs. 43,084 crores.

“Choice of multiple partners will enable Airtel to roll out 5G services spanning ultra-high-speeds, low latency and large data handling capabilities, which will enable a superior user experience and allow the pursuit of new, innovative use cases with enterprise and industry customers,” the press release added.

As mentioned, Airtel has joined hands with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung as network partners to deliver the 5G services in India. Airtel has been using Ericsson’s mobile communications services for over 25 years, across every generation of mobile devices. Samsung is a new addition and Airtel’s partnership with the South Korean giant will begin this year onwards.

Airtel will likely become the first telco to provide 5G services in the country as there has been no official confirmation from rivals like Reliance Jio and Vodaphone. There are rumors that Jio will commence its 5G services on 15th August.

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The post Airtel to launch 5G services in India this August appeared first on Gizmochina.

India’s 5G spectrum auction has finally ended. The auction for 51,236 MHz of the total 72,098 MHz spectrum was announced by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Telecom Minister. This spectrum, which is valued at Rs. 1,50,173 crore and makes up around 71% of the entire spectrum, is included. Reliance Jio won the auction with the highest bid, buying over half of the airwaves offered for sale in the 5G spectrum auction.

Several bands of the 5G spectrum were bought by Reliance Jio, including the 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 3300MHz, and 26GHz bands. Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has stated that India will soon see a 5G rollout. The recently appointed Reliance Jio Chairman, Akash Ambani, announced that the business would roll out 5G throughout all of India in honor of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.”

In order to commemorate “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,” Reliance Jio claimed it will bring out “the world’s most advanced 5G network throughout India.” When India commemorates its 75th anniversary of independence on August 15, the company may disclose some information.

Jio placed the highest offer at the 5G spectrum auction, purchasing bands for Rs 88,078 crore. This includes the highly sought-after 700MHz 5G spectrum, which is supposed to provide a stronger signal.

The telco has over 400 million active users. Jio further stated that its 5G solution is made in India, by Indians and to suit the need of every Indian. “Jio is fully ready for 5G rollout in the shortest period of time because of its nationwide fiber presence, all-IP network with no legacy infrastructure, indigenous 5G stack, and strong global partnerships across the technology ecosystem,” the company further said in its press release.

Jio’s arch-rival Airtel was the second highest bidder. Airtel bought 19,867 MHz airwaves across different bands for Rs 43,084 crore. Vodafone Idea (Vi) bought spectrum for Rs 18,784 crore. 5G services are expected to roll out in India by October.

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The post Reliance Jio won the 5G spectrum auction in India, claims it is already prepared appeared first on Gizmochina.

5G phone availability may see a sharp decline if the government goes forward with a new ruling that makes local testing and certifications of devices mandatory, Airtel, Jio, and Vi have warned. The telecom providers also suggested that the move will impact data consumption and restrict market access.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently decided to bring 5G phones under phase-5 of the ‘Mandatory Testing & Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE)’ control scheduled from January 1st, 2023 (via Economic Times). Moving forward with this would also hamper India’s ambitions of becoming a global manufacturing base, stated the operators.

“We urge your intervention to instruct TEC to rescind the existing notifications covering all existing consumer electronic products under the MTCTE Certification regime and to desist in pursuing smartwatches, wearables, and smart cameras under Phase III and 5G mobile phones under the proposed Phase V of MTCTE,” the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in a letter to telecom secretary K. Rajaraman, according to the report.

The COAI represents operators like Jio, Airtel, and Vi along with global companies like Apple, Google, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and others. These have collectively urged DoT and TEC to not interfere in mobile manufacturing and leave it under the regulatory framework of the Bureau of Industrial Standards (BIS) and the Ministry of IT & Electronics (MeitY).

Industry executives added that MTCTE is quite a time-consuming procedure and would burden OEMs with compliance costs, restricting market access and delaying device launches.

As one senior executive put it: “TEC’s latest decision is causing unease and uncertainty in the industry as any potential disruption in the availability of 5G smartphones would automatically slow down the pace of adoption of 5G services in India, and also reduce overall data consumption levels, which would ultimately hit telco ARPUs.”

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OPPO, one of the world’s leading smartphone makers, announced that the company conducted a 5G standalone and non-standalone network trial in partnership with Indian telecom network operator Reliance Jio.

Reliance Jio, which is a relatively new player in India’s telecom sector but one of the leading ones, carried out these tests by utilizing the allocated mid-band trial spectrum which is in the range of 3.3GHz to 3.6GHz frequency range.

OPPO has further said that the 5G trial was successfully concluded on the Reno7 smartphone in a demo setup. The company adds that it could get lag-free 4K video streams on the device along with super-fast download and upload speed.

The OPPO Reno7 Pro, a smartphone that was launched in the Indian market a few weeks ago, comes with support for up to 10 bands while the standard Reno7 supports up to 13 bands that will support access to the 5G network anywhere in the country. The OPPO Reno7 is priced at ₹28,999 in the Indian market.

In a statement, Tasleem Arif, Vice President, India Research & Development Head, OPPO India, said:  “Technology such as 5G is altering how the world communicates today and tests like these will further consolidate our efforts in the industry and provide the best value proposition for our customers.”

The Indian government is set to open auctions for the 5G spectrum in the country by the end of this year and is eyeing a commercial rollout of the next-generation communication technology sometime in 2023.

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It’s been a while since we last heard about the JioBook. The laptop was previously spotted on Geekbench listing revealing its key specs. Now, the laptop has yet again arrived online, this time it got approved on a hardware certification.

The Reliance JioBook’s listing was first spotted by Mukul Sharma(via 91Mobiles) and it confirms the laptop’s OS. The laptop with model product ID: 400830078 boots on Windows 10 operating system.

Furthermore, the listing reveals the company name as Emdoor Digital Technology LTD, which hints that the laptop could be manufactured by this company, but could be launched under Reliance’s JioBook branding.

In terms of its other specs, the JioBook was previously spotted with 2GB of RAM. It scored 1,178 points in the single-core department and 4,246 points in the multi-core department. These scores are possible due to the MediaTek MT8788, under the hood.

Considering these specs, the JioBook seems to be a basic laptop in the market. The laptop also appeared on BIS earlier confirming its India launch. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t spoken a word about the laptop, but given that it has passed another certification, we can expect a sooner release.

In related news, the company is also expected to launch the JioPhone 5G soon in India. Some of its specs are a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display, 13MP dual cameras, and Snapdragon 480 chipset. The smartphone will come at an aggressive price in the country and offer five 5G bands.

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The post JioBook gets approved online running on Windows 10 OS appeared first on Gizmochina.

Indian Finance minister stated earlier today (1st February 2022) that the nation will begin 5G airwaves auction later this year. With this schedule, the next generation of telecommunications will begin rolling out in India by the end of March 2023.

According to a Reuters report, the news arrives as New Delhi is aiming on offering incentives to accelerate the 5G networking in the country. In a statement, Peeyush Vaish, partner and telecom sector leader at Deloitte India stated that “The (5G) roll-out across the country will also happen much faster than other previous generation roll-outs considering the fact that the finance minister in her speech has also talked about fiberisation of all villages by 2025.”

Back in November 2021, we had reported on the government delaying the 5G auctions with telecom operators like Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea received a six months trial expansion. In other words, this news is also in line with our previous report. Notably, the three major carriers in India are also rushing to roll out their respective 5G networks, with Jio claiming that it will be the first operator to launch 5G services in India.

As of right now, the country has more than a billion wireless subscribers and its market potential has led to tech giants like Facebook and Google to invest billions into the region as well. Interestingly, Google and Facebook have poured together 10 billion US Dollars into Reliance Jio, which is the the largest mobile operator, back in 2020. Although, the Search Engine giant has also invested 1 billion US Dollars into its rival Bharti Airtel just last month.

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The post India to kick off 5G auctions this year, prior to 2023 commercial roll out appeared first on Gizmochina.

Last week, we witnessed the launch of new models in one of the best-selling budget smartphone series worldwide. Further, we learned that the global smartphone market grew for the first time in four years. Then, out of nowhere, two brands released shameless iPhone clones. At the same time, another company launched a Galaxy S21 Ultra-lookalike phone. All this and more happened in the last few days. Let’s take a look at them one by one in no particular order.

Before proceeding, we would like to let you know that the top stories listed here are based on our opinion. As your choices may vary, we would like to know your picks in the comment section below.

Top Stories from Last Week

New Redmi Note 11 series for international markets

After debuting the Redmi Note 11 lineup in China in November, Xiaomi finally brought the family to international on January 26. However, the series for global markets include totally different devices, namely Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11 Pro, and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.

Out of these four, the Redmi Note 11S offers the best value for its asking price. Although it looks and has the same display as the vanilla model, its specs are more comparable to the Pros.

The entire series comes with features like a high-refresh display, dual stereo speakers, IR blaster, MUI 13, a 5,000mAh battery, and more. You can learn more about them by visiting this link.

Smartphone market observed multiple records

The global smartphone market grew for the first time in 2021 since 2017. Counterpoint Research revealed that the shipments reached 1.39 billion units by growing 4% YoY.

The Indian smartphone, in particular, grew 12%YoY last year by registering 162 million units in shipment. On the other hand, the Chinese market shipped 333 million units and incremented by only 1%.

Finally, pivoting to the budget segment at the right time (ahead of LG’s demise), OnePlus saw an insane 524% YoY growth in the US in Q4 2021.

iPhone clones from Gionee and Blackview

Gionee 13 Pro went official last week with an uncanny iPhone 13 resemblance and HarmonyOS. However, it has entry-level specs like an HD+ display (LCD) and a UNISOC T310 chipset. For just  ¥529 (483), it doesn’t sound like a bad deal after all.

At around the same time, Blackview A95 also got announced with an iPhone 13 Pro-like design. Its main highlights other than design include a MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, 6.5-inch HD+ display (LCD), and a 4,380mAh battery.

Face ID now works with a mask 

After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, iPhones can be finally unlocked with masks on. However, this feature is currently only available in the beta channel. Also, it requires iPhone 12 or newer models.

Additionally, Apple is working on a new feature that will turn iPhones into POS machines. This feature will be reportedly useful for micro-merchants.

MediaTek Kompanio 1380 is a new chip for Chromebooks

MediaTek announced a new SoC called Komapnio 1380 for premium Chromebooks on January 26. This 6m chip arrives with an octa-core CPU consisting of four ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 3GHz and a five-core ARM Mali-G57 GPU.

It supports up to 4K 60Hz display, AV1 decoding, WiFi 6//6E, and Bluetooth 5. The chipset will make its global debut inside the Acer Chromebook Spin 513, which is scheduled to hit the shelves in June.

HUAWEI P50 Pocket reaches global markets alongside HUAWEI P50 Pro

On January 26, Huawei announced the arrival of HUAWEI P50 Pro and HUAWEI P50 Pocket to multiple international markets like Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America.

The 4G-only premium handsets from the once world’s largest smartphone brand sport the same set of features as the variant sold in China, except for software. The global editions of these devices run EMUI 12 without GMS (Google Mobile Services) instead of HarmonyOS.

Despite their shortcomings in terms of software, Huawei is charging a whopping €1,199 for the HUAWEI P50 Pro (8GB + 256GB) and €1,299 for the HUAWEI P50 Pocket (8GB + 256GB). There’s also a Premium Edition of the latter phone with a unique design and 12GB + 512GB memory configuration for €1,599.

JioPhone 5G could be Jio’s first 5G smartphone

A report on January 25 disclosed that the Indian carrier Jio is working on its first 5G smartphone called JioPhone 5G. This device is expected to go official in June with much better specs than the poorly received JioPhone Next.

The handset is said to come with a 6.5-inch HD+ display (HD+), 13MP (wide) + 2MP (macro) dual camera setup, 8MP selfie camera, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 SoC, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 5,000mAh battery, and 18W fast charging.

OnePlus phones might run H₂OOS in the near future

On January 27, popular Indian tech influencer Mukul Sharma tweeted that the unified operating system of OPPO and OnePlus could be called H₂OOS. Since his claim is based on a trademark filing by OnePlus, he could be wrong.

Anyway, the H₂OOS (Water OS) trademark is interesting as it combines the names of OxygenOS (O₂) and the discontinued HydrogenOS (H₂OS). The name has no mention of ColorOS, which the software will be actually based on.

Furthermore, a couple of days before this tweet, a tipster stated that the OnePlus 10 Ultra could debut in H2 2022 as the brand’s first superphone or ultra-premium smartphone. The device is said to house OPPO’s MariSilicon NPU.

HONOR to showcase new products at MWC 2022

HONOR has confirmed to attend MWC 2022. The company has scheduled a launch conference for February 28. The event will kickstart at 1 PM CET.

The brand is teasing the launch of the new Magic series with a quote ‘The Power of Magic’. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the upcoming lineup of handsets.

Micromax IN Note 2 and vivo Y75 5G  debut in India

Micromax launched the IN Note 2 on January 25 as the successor of IN Note 1 for ₹13,490 (4GB + 64GB). The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra-lookalike phone arrives with a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, MediaTek Helio G95 chipset, 48MP (wide) + 5MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (depth) quad-camera setup, 16MP selfie camera, side-mounte fingerprint sensor, Android 11, 5,000mAh battery, and 30W fast charging.

Chinese handset maker vivo debuted a new budget 5G smartphone called vivo Y75 5G in India on January 27. For ₹21,990 (8GB  +128GB), the phone offers a 6.58-inch FHD+ display (LCD), MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, 50MP (wide) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (depth) triple camera setup, 16MP selfie camera, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Android 12, 5,000mAh battery, and 18W fast charging.

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The post iPhone clones from Gionee/Blackview, H₂OOS for OnePlus, Face ID with mask, and more from Last Week appeared first on Gizmochina.

A leaked speed test for Jio 5G has revealed that the network can achieve download speeds of 420 Mbps (52 MBps) and upload speeds of 412 Mbps (51.5 MBps). The latency is fairly low as well at just 11ms and jitter averages out at 9ms.

While nowhere close to 5G’s theoretical speeds and latencies, it is a great start and even beats the median global 5G download speed which has lately fallen to around 166 Mbps. The info comes from a screenshot shared by a pilot tester to 91mobiles.

The figures get more impressive when put up against the Reliance-owned Indian telecom company’s highest average 4G data download speed of 21.9 Mbps. Compared to 4G, 5G achieves around 20 times faster download speeds, meaning your 4K movie downloads should take only a matter of minutes. Real-world performance once 5G actually rolls out will most likely differ from these controlled pilot test results — but let’s just marvel at those triple-digit speeds for now.

Speaking of rollouts, 5G in India is expected to reach 13 metro cities before the end of this year, according to the Department of Telecom (DoT). Jio appears to be leading the race and recently even announced that it has completed its 5G rollout plans in around 1,000 cities in the country.

Earlier last year, Jio had managed to reach speeds of 1 Gbps as part of its 5G field tests. These were obviously performed with the operator having complete control over the situations though, so users shouldn’t expect to see Gbps-class speeds anytime soon. Further, Gbps speeds can only be achieved when the network utilizes the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, which is something no telecom provider appears to be interested in presently.

Current 5G implementations seem to be favoring distance over speeds, utilizing sub-6GHz frequencies that can hit a few hundred Mbps tops but also cover much wider coverage areas.

Jio will be joined by Airtel and Vi rolling out their respective 5G networks in India in late 2022 and early 2023.

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The post Jio 5G leaked speed test reveals ultrafast 420 Mbps download speeds appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in October, Reliance Jio had launched the JioPhone Next smartphone in India. Now, the company is apparently working on two more consumer electronic products, namely a new tablet and a Smart TV.

According to a 91Mobiles report, tipster Mukul Sharma has revealed that the Indian telecom giant is working on a new Jio tablet and Jio TV that will launch next year. Apart from these two products, the company was also recently rumored to be working on a laptop as well. While the leakster shared that a tablet and TV is in the works, he did not reveal any finer details regarding these products. So unfortunately, we have no idea about the specifications that the tablet and TV will ship with.

Although, we can expect the tablet to run on PragatiOS out of the box. For those unaware, is is the company’s proprietary OS that was built in partnership with Google for the JioPhone Next. The tablet should offer a larger display and could likely be powered by an entry level Qualcomm chipset owing to the Indian brand’s partnership with the American chipmaker. Furthermore, the tablet in question would also likely be priced aggressively similar to its other products.

Talking about the Jio TV, the company might be working on a new smart TV that could likely arrive with support for OTT apps. Notably, the company may also bundle the set up box that it offers with Jio Fiber broadband with the TV. This product could even launch in multiple size options as well. The move from the company would also marks its attempts at diversifying its product ecosystem.

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The post Jio is working on a new tablet and Smart TV that will launch in 2022: Report appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi subsidiary, Redmi India, has just announced that it has partnered up with Reliance Jio to conduct 5G trails for the upcoming Note 11T 5G smartphone. The company is testing the capabilities and performance of its 5G enabled handset in the Indian market.

As per the announcement, the test would have both brands conduct a 5G standalone lab trial, which would have the Note 11T 5G go though various scenarios to ensure it offers users an “enhanced” 5G experience. For those unaware, the upcoming Note 11T 5G is the company’s latest offering in the Indian market that will arrive with support for 7 bands including SA (n1/ n3/ n5/n8/ n28/ n40/ n78) and NSA (n1/n3/n40/n78).

Muralikrishnan B, COO, Xiaomi India added that “We are delighted to partner with Reliance Jio for the Note 11T 5G in our endeavor of democratizing technology by making it easier for customers to get access to 5G smartphones that are future ready. Our latest trial with Reliance Jio is an indication of the development of the 5G ecosystem in India and the encouraging outcome highlights the true potential of the device and brings a high-quality 5G experience closer to reality.”

For those unaware, plans for the 5G auction in India has been delayed for another six months. This arrives as brands like Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea to get an extension for their trials. Talking about the device itself, Note 11T 5G will sport a MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC, which is an octa core processor that clocks at 2.4GHz and is based on the 6nm process. It sports a 6.6 inch FHD+ panel with 2400×1080 resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, and 240Hz touch sampling rate. Notably, it also the one of the first Note series device to have access to 7 bands, and will launch in the country on 30th November 2021.

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The post Redmi partners up with Jio to conduct 5G trials for upcoming Note 11T 5G appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in March, XDA Developers revealed that Jio is working on a low-cost notebook named the JioBook. It appears that the company could be internally testing its performance as it has appeared on the Geekbench benchmarking site (via) today.

Recently, variants of the JioBook with model numbers such as NB1118QMW, NB1148QMW, and NB1112MM were spotted at the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) authority. The NB1112MM model has now appeared at Geekbench with some of its key specs.

The listing shows that the JioBook notebook with NB1112MM model number is powered by the MediaTek MT6788 chipset and 2 GB of RAM. It was found running on Android 11. In the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench, the device scored 1178 and 4246 points, respectively.

XDA’s report had revealed that the JioBook’s display will offer an HD resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The screen size of the device is not known yet. The report revealed that the notebook will be powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset, which will come equipped with a Snapdragon X12 modem for 4G connectivity.

The JioBook’s base model is expected to arrive with 2 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage. Its higher variant may include 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64 GB of eMMC 5.1 storage.

Apart from 4G LTE, JioBook is expected to offer connectivity features like dual-band Wi-Fi and HDMI. It goes without saying the device will be equipped with Jio apps such as JioStore, JioPages, and JioMeet. It is expected also include Microsoft apps such as Edge, Office, and Teams. The existence of the MediaTek model indicates that there could be multiple SoC variants of the JioBook.

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The post JioBook key specifications emerge through Geekbench listing appeared first on Gizmochina.

Jio Phone Next was announced in June through India-based Reliance Jio’s 44^th Annual General Meeting (AGM). At that time, the company claimed that it will be made available in the market on September 10^thv. However, the company released a statement last month to say that it will be available for purchase in time for the Diwali festive season, which suggested that it could be released in the Indian market by October end or early November. While the company confirmed some of the key features of the JioPhone Next, it did not reveal any specifications. Now, the handset has appeared at the Google Play Console with some of its key specs.

JioPhone Next 4G visits Google Play console listing.

– HD+ display 720 x 1440
– Android 11 Go edition
– Adreno 306 GPU
– 2GB ram
– Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 QM215#JioPhoneNext #Jio pic.twitter.com/kn5AtFU1W1

— Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) October 19, 2021

The Jio Phone Next’s Play Console listing shows that its display carries support for an HD resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 215 mobile platform and 2 GB of RAM. It runs on Android 11, which appears to be the Go edition.

Past reports have claimed that the JioPhone Next has a 5.5-inch display, an 8-megapixel selfie camera, and a 13-megapixel rear snapper. The 2 GB RAM variant of the device may offer 16 GB of storage, whereas the 3 GB RAM model may come with 32 GB of storage. The phone may house a 2,500mAh battery.

Jio and Google have collaborated to offer an optimized experience on the JioPhone Next. The device will offer some other features like on-screen translation, automatic read aloud, India-centric filters for camera, and Google Assistant. It is also said to be equipped with custom editions of Google Duo and Camera Go. Probably, it will be priced between Rs 5,000 (~$66) and Rs 7,000 (~$93) in the country.

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Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio is expected to release its new entry-level 4G smartphone dubbed as JioPhone Next very soon. This handset is developed in partnership with Google. A few days back, we learned that the device might be available for pre-order starting this week. But unfortunately, there’s still no update on it. However, a TV news channel seems to have reported on the pricing details of the JioPhone Next earlier this week.

According to Economic Times (via 91Mobiles), ET Now (business and finance news channel) shared details of JioPhone pricing and offers on Monday (August 30) citing sources.

As per the report, the JioPhone Next will be available in two variants, namely Basic and Advanced. These versions are said to be priced at ₹5,000 ($68) and ₹7,000 ($96) respectively. Customers buying the phone will have to only pay 10% cost upfront, while the remaining amount will be financed by the partner lenders.

The report says that Jio has partnered with five banks like State Bank of India, Piramal Capital, IDFC First Assure, and DMI Finance for financing the sales of its upcoming handset. Each of these banks has reportedly assured business worth ₹10,000 crores. That’s not all, Jio is also reported to have assured ₹2,500 crores worth of credit support for four other Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC).

Further, Reliance Jio is aiming to sell a whopping 50 million units of JioPhone Next in the first 6 months. The telecom company has already set internal targets with distributors and financiers for sales.

The Jiophone Next is manufactured by UTL Neolyncs, a joint venture between UTL Group and Neolync Solutions. The smartphone is scheduled to go on sale from September 10.

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Reliance announced the JioPhone Next at its 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June. It is an ultra-affordable smartphone developed in collaboration with Google. The handset was said to go on sale from September 10. Ahead of that, the device’s pre-booking details have emerged.

According to a report by 91Mobiles, the JioPhone Next will be available for pre-booking starting next week. The publication has learned this information from its retail source. Hence, the timeline could be accurate since the phone is scheduled to hit the shelves on September 10.

The JioPhone Next is unlike the older LYF-branded smartphones from Reliance. As mentioned earlier, it is developed in partnership with Google. The device is targeted at first-time smartphone buyers. Hence, it is tailored for that set of users.

Reliance is yet to reveal the entire specifications of this handset, however, most of its features are out via a tipster. According to him, the JioPhone Next has a 5.5-inch display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 SoC paired with 2GB/3GB RAM as well as 16GB/32GB eMMC 4.5 storage.

The phone runs Android 11 Go Edition and comes with Google Camera Go with support for HDR, Night Mode, and Snapchat filters. It has a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera.

The handset has dual SIM card slots with support for 4G VoLTE. Last but not least, it is backed by a 2,500mAh battery.

Reliance is yet to reveal the price of the JioPhone Next. Anyway, as per the tipster, the phone will cost around ₹3,499 ($47).

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The OPPO A15 launched in India in October 2020. It was soon followed by OPPO A15s in December. A month prior to that, the phone received a price cut. However, its price was once again increased in July 2021. Now,  the price of the device has been slashed yet another time in the country.

OPPO has partnered with telecom operator Jio in India to offer a price cut on the 3GB + 32GB variant of the 10-month-old OPPO A15. This version of the device carries a price tag of ₹10,990. But now, it can be purchased at ₹9,991 (₹999 off). Additionally, users can avail Jio recharge benefits worth ₹7,000 as well as no-cost EMI plans.

As far as the handset is concerned, the OPPO A15 sports a plastic build and a 6.52-inch HD+ LCD panel. It is powered by a MediaTek Helio P35 SoC coupled with LPDDR4x RAM.

The phone houses a triple camera setup on the back consisting of a 13MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. It also has a 5MP selfie camera inside a dewdrop notch.

Other features include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, dual-SIM, 4G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GNSS, 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSD card slot, and a MicroUSB port. Last but not least, the smartphone runs ColorOS 7.2 based on Android 10 and it gets its juice from a 4,230mAh battery with support for 10W charging.

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The JioPhone Next is set to launch on 10th September 2021. The ultra affordable smartphone arrives with an optimized version of the Android operating system that was jointly developed by Reliance Jio and Google.

The Indian telecom giant has built the new smartphone that has been specifically tailored for the Indian market. Through its affordable price tag, the company aims to bring in millions of new users to experience the internet for the very first time.The JioPhone Next will be powered by an optimized version of Android that was made in cooperation with the search engine giant. This device will even support the Play Store and will support a voice assistant, automatic read aloud, off screen text language translation, smart camera with augmented reality filters, and much more.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, stated that “Last year, Sundar and I talked about Google and Jio co developing a next-generation feature rich, but extremely affordable smartphone, aimed at providing first-time internet access for 2G users. Today I’m pleased to announce that Google and Jio teams have jointly developed a truly breakthrough smartphone that we are calling JioPhone Next, a fully featured smartphone, supporting the entire suite of applications from both Google and Jio and as well as the Android Play Store, through which users will have access to the entire universe of Android apps.”

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With its rival telecom operator Airtel beginning its trials for 5G networking in Gurgaon, Haryana, Reliance Jio has also started the field testing of 5G services in Mumbai, Maharashtra using indigenous technology.

According to a TechRadar report, the Indian telecom giant had applied for conducting 5G trials in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad. The report added that the company will apparently be using its proprietary technology for its 5G trials in Mumbai. However, Jio would be teaming up with Ericsson for Delhi trials, while its Pune trials will have it worth with Nokia. Similarly, the field testing for Gujarat will have the company join hands with Samsung as well.

Back in May 2021, the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had allowed telecom operators to conduct six month long trials for the use and application of 5G technology in India. The agency had allocated 5G trial spectrums in 700MHz, 3.2 to 3.6GHz, and 24.25 to 28.5GHz bands to Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea to develop the next generation of networking technology. Notably, Reliance Jio would be using its standalone 5G architecture for its trials. This includes testing of core and radio networks for peak speeds, latency, and data loads as well.

The company also added that it would be using both mid and mmwave bands along with its standalone architecture for 5G trials in Mumbai. Earlier this year, the carrier stated that “Indigenously developed 5G Radio integrated with Jio’s 5G Core Network and 5G Smartphones have achieved over the air throughputs in excess of 1 Gbps. In-house Massive MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) and indoor 5G small cell are under advanced stages of development.” More news regarding its 5G services is expected to be revealed at its Reliance Industries’ AGM on June 24, alongside the launch of its 5G Phone.

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Reliance Industries Limited has just announced that Jio Platforms will be working with Qualcomm to set up local manufacturing sites that will produce “critical equipment” for 5G networking in India.

For those unaware, both firms have previously teamed up to develop “open and interoperable” interface compliant architecture based 5G solutions back in 2020. This had the joint effort achieve over a 1Gbps milestone last year on the Jio 5GNR solution that used the US based chipmaking giant’s 5G RAN Platforms. Last year, the company had even invested 97 million US Dollars in Jio platforms as well. Although, Qualcomm has also partnered with a local rival of Jio, namely Bharti Airtel.

Reliance also added that “India is at the forefront of the global digital revolution. Jio is accelerating the rollout of digital platforms and indigenously developed next-generation 5G stack, making it affordable and available everywhere. With 5G technology, Indian subscribers will experience the benefits of higher data rates, low latency communications, and enhanced digital experiences across a wide array of connected devices, from 5G enabled smartphones, enterprise laptops, and AR/VR products to vertical IoT solutions.”

At the moment, Reliance Jio is working on readying 5G field trials through the trial spectrum it has received from the Department of Telecommunications. This will have the firm test its own 5G technology while also working with its 4G partner Samsung, Ericsson, and even Nokia. So, the local production of the 5G equipments in the region is a major step for the nation that is aiming to adopt the newer and faster bandwidth soon.

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Early this month, we saw a report of a laptop from Reliance Jio named JioBook being in development including a few of its specs. Now, a report by Economic times says that both the JioBook laptop and the entry-level 5G smartphone could debut at RIL(Reliance Industries Limited)’s AGM.

As per the report, the 5G smartphone, which is being developed in partnership with Google, will get through the R&D stage by the May-June period. Citing people familiar with the matter, it says that the launch could very well be during the Annual General Meeting(AGM) of Reliance Industries.

Last year, the AGM held on July 15, 2020, and this time it’s likely to be around August-September if the report is right. Speaking of last year, the Indian Telecom giant revealed that Google had invested in the Jio Platforms Ltd for a 7.73% equity stake.

This, along with 5G adoption and introducing an entry-level smartphone, came up as announcements in the 2021 meeting. Reliance Jio is expected to bring 5G to the country at this very AGM and the services will launch sometime in H2 2021.

Coming back, along with the 5G smartphone, the JioBook laptop is likely to appear at the event as well. Recently, the Indian Government conducted a spectrum auction where the companies raised their 4G capacity and Jio spent the most(₹20,000 crore).

To expand its services across products, Jio is seriously looking to enter into the product ecosystem with a 5G smartphone and laptop. This will pave way for it to bring products with deeper integration of Jio services, always-connected devices with the Jio network, and more.

We saw evidences of this in the JioBook where the company’s test unit was found using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 chipset with 4G LTE support, run JioOS(preloaded with Jio services) that’s based on Google’s Android.

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Reliance Jio is working on a number of products in addition to strengthening its network in India. Apart from working on a budget smartphone in partnership with Google, it is reportedly prepping an Android laptop for the masses.

In an exclusive report, XDADevelopers say that Reliance Jio is working on a laptop with cellular connectivity. Apparently, it could launch as the JioBook and run Google’s Android OS. Jio’s partnership with Google goes a long way from 2020 and beyond. The Alphabet-owned company has already invested in the Jio Platforms Ltd for a 7.73% equity stake.

Additionally, it is working with the Jio to develop a $50 Android smartphone for the Indian market. Coming back, according to evidences found on an early firmware, the OS on the JioBook may be called JioOS.

Unlike early talks, the laptop’s CPU seems to be based on ARM-platform and the current prototype is said to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset. The development for this seems to have begun in Sep. 2020 and Jio is partnering with China’s Bluebank Communication technology.

And talking about the EVT design shown above, although the test version has a keyboard with a ‘Windows’ function key, it could get replaced in the final version. This is because the Snapdragon 665 isn’t on the list of “Windows 10 on ARM” supported Qualcomm chipsets.

Reliance Jio’s ‘JioBook’ Laptop – Specs(Expected)

Talking about cellular connectivity, the Snapdragon X12 modem on the Snapdragon 665 could help Jio spread the ‘always-connected’ 4G LTE tagline and sell the laptops & expand its network more.

As for specs, the product, which is currently in the EVT stage(Engineering Validation Test), reportedly has a display with a resolution of 1366×768 pixels(HD-display), 2GB/4GB LPDDR4x RAM, and 32GB eMMC and 64GB eMMC 5.1 storage.

The company seems to be opting for the cheaper components like Samsung‘s combined mobile DRAM and NAND chips. This could be a step to price the laptop very low and make it affordable for everyone.

Either way, other possible specs include HDMI port, Qualcomm audio chip(could be for 3.5mm audio/mic & speaker), 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3-axis accelerometer.

JioBook Software

As mentioned above, the firmware reveals that the JioBook test version ran a version of Android 10 OS. Also, to cut down the cost of licensing, the JioBook might skip pre-installing the Google Apps but will likely be loaded with JioStore, JioMeet, JioPages, and more.

The report says that evidences of Microsoft apps like Microsoft Teams, Edge, and Office were also spotted on the test version. This suggests that Jio might be targeting the productivity and business segment too.

Talking about the launch, the EVT is said to transition into the PVT(Production Validation Test) by April and the JioBook laptop will likely be unveiled in India in May. In that case, we are sure to get more details in the coming months.

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Last year, Reliance Jio had announced Google’s investment of Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.7 percent stake in the company. Along with that, it was also revealed that both the companies will be collaborating for making a low-cost Android smartphone.

Now, it is being reported that Qualcomm will also be playing a key role for this upcoming entry-level smartphone. With budget smartphones, Jio is trying to convert feature phone users, especially its JioPhone users, into first-time smartphone users.

Rajen Vagadia, President of Qualcomm India, told ET that the company will continue the legacy of collaborating and supporting Jio in bringing new devices and offerings, across price tiers in the market.

Qualcomm’s 400-series chipsets are likely to be used for the budget smartphones — both for 4G as well as 5G. However, the company hasn’t confirmed reaching a deal for the same, saying that such deals would be confidential.

As per the previous reports, Reliance Jio had planned to launch the budget smartphone made in collaboration with Google, by December 2020. However, the release of the device has been postponed and is now expected to get launched in the first quarter of this year.

The upcoming budget smartphone is expected to be priced around Rs 4,000 (approximately $55) to attract the masses in the Indian market. Another report claims that the Jio is expected to roll out around 200 million units within two years in hopes to rope in new users to maintain its lead in the market.

It will be interesting to how the upcoming Jio-Google budget smartphone performs in the market. Google has been trying to focus on the budget offerings with services like Android Go and Android One, but so far hasn’t been able to provide support after initial few months. Indian smartphone market is already highly competitive and it remains to been seen if Jio’s smartphones can be a threat to the likes of Xiaomi and Realme.

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Reliance Jio is already reported to be working on a $50 Android Phone for the Indian market. Now, it is all set to launch a feature phone next year according to the latest ET report. However, it looks like the device isn’t really going to be a new one.

Ambani-led Reliance launched its first feature phone as Jio Phone with 4G VoLTE connectivity. The device’s latest pricing is ₹699($9). ET’s report says that Reliance is planning to relaunch this device in Q1 of 2021.

While the move is questionable, the report says Jio is doing it to tap-in the online-education revenue and gain new subscribers. That said, the new Jio Phone will reportedly cost below ₹1,000($13.55) but will be higher than the old price. This corroborates with an early report that said the current Jio Phone’s price would be hiked to ₹999($13.54).

And although the pricing would be a bit steep, the rise in component costs and import restrictions during COVID-19 reasons it out. Citing industry sources, the report also says the new Jio Phone will be manufactured by Flex, come bundled with a new subscription plan, and available across 800,000 retail stores in India.

EDITOR’S PICK: Reliance Jio partners with Vivo to launch Jio exclusive smartphones in India: Report

If you are unaware, Reliance Jio is the top Cellular Network Provider in India. Despite having rivals like Bharti Airtel, and Vi(Vodafone-Idea), it maintains over 400 million subscribers(as of Oct’20) in the country. Thus, to cash in the benefits, corporates like Facebook, Google have invested in the firm.

In fact, Jio is working with the latter for an entry-level smartphone through a partnership. Coming back, the report says Jio will launch the said smartphone after the Jio Phone later next year. Nevertheless, with the 4G Jio Phone, the company is probably looking to regain the top spot it once had two years back.

Apart from 4G, Jio is already pumped up to launch the next-gen 5G services in India by H2 2021 and bring a 5G-version of Jio Phone as a bonus to the tally.

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Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has revealed that its telecom unit, Jio, will be launching its 5G service in India by the second half of next year.

As per the Indian billionaire, Jio will launch its 5G services in the company’s home country, which will stand as a “testimony” to the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) policy. Apart from being one of the first to launch 5G services in the region, the company is also working on launching an affordable lineup of Android smartphones in collaboration with Google, which will likely debut in the arriving months.

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According to an NDTV report, Ambani believes that the policy steps were needed to to accelerate the roll out of 5G networking in India. He further added that, “I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G revolution in India in the second half of 2021. It will be powered by an indigenously developed network, hardware, and technology components.” For those unaware, Reliance Jio has been working on 5G network for a while now and is promising nationwide LT exclusive network coverage as well.

The company is also expected to be ahead of its rivals and other major carriers like Airtel and Vi. To bring the newer and faster bandwidth to the region, the telecom based firm will have to collaborate with industry giants like Qualcomm and Samsung, as stated by Ambani in the 43rd annual general meeting of Reliance Industries earlier this year. Jio already has the biggest market share in the Indian telecom market with a 35 percent share. The addition of 5G would only boost this further, with applications in areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, financial services, and new commerce.

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Reliance Jio is apparently planning to partner with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to launch “Jio exclusive’ smartphones in India. The company is also in talks with other brands for similar partnerships, which will offer various benefits to customers.

Reliance Jio is partnering with multiple brands as well. This includes smartphone makers like Lava, Karbonn, Vivo, and more. The Indian telecom giant is also giving customers various offers alongside these exclusive smartphones to attract a larger crowd. The benefits include OTT subscriptions, shopping benefits, discounts, and a one time screen replacement as well as per an ETTelecom report.

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Furthermore, the report also claims that the company has already partnered with Chinese tech giant Vivo to launch Jio exclusive smartphones in the country. Just last week, the company launched the Vivo Y1s that arrived with a Jio lock in offer that provided benefits worth 4,550 INR (roughly 62 US Dollars) by recharging 249 INR (roughly 3 US Dollars) or above on a Jio SIM. Reportedly, these ‘Jio Exclusive’ smartphones will be priced under 8,000 INR (roughly 108 US Dollars).

The budget oriented devices are likely to attract Jio Phone users to make the switch. Companies like Lava and Karbonn are known names in the Indian market for their entry level Android devices. Previously, Reliance Jio partnered with a Chinese firm iTel to sell low cost smartphones. Thus, the move from Reliance could likely be an expansion of this plan and the launch of the Vivo Y1s might have been just the start for Jio exclusive Android smartphones in India. We’ll offer updates when more information is available so stay tuned.

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