Reliance Jio announced its first smartphone JioPhone Next at its annual general meeting today. The smartphone — developed in partnership with Google — will be available starting September 10. Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at the meeting about the JioPhone. Pichai said, “our vision was 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.”
One part of this vision was the partnership with Reliance Jio.Pichai said that Google and Jio teams have worked to create a ‘special’ version of Android. “Our teams have optimised a version of our Android OS especially for this device.” Pichai also said that the JioPhone Next will offer language and translation features, “a great camera, and support for the latest Android updates.” Getting Android updates has been an ‘issue’ for other Android manufacturers. It’s not sure till when will Jio smartphone get updates.
Pichai said that the phone has been made especially for Indian users who haven’t got access to internet. “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,” said Pichai.
The Indian-born Google CEO said that it means a lot to him personally to connect Indians to the internet. “Helping to connect 1.3 billion Indians to the opportunities the internet creates is meaningful to all of us at Google — and certainly to me personally,” said Pichai.“I know that with greater access to smartphones and improved connectivity, there’s no limit to what India’s people can do,” he further added.
