SUMMARY
The phone will run on ‘Pragati OS’ jointly developed between Reliance and Google
Other features include voice assistant, read-aloud, and translation functions.
Google already provides these features as part of other services; it is unclear whether changes or modifications have been made
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Running on Pragati OS, a custom operating system, JioPhone Next is all set to hit the market this Diwali. During the Q2 FY22 result announcement, the company said that the phone “would be available more widely in time for the Diwali festive season.”
Some of the announced features include a voice assistant, read-aloud function and translate function. But since these functions are already available as part of Google’s Android OS and related services, perhaps they have been modified for use in the Indian market.
JioPhone Next, the next iteration in Reliance Jio’s series of affordable 4G-capable phones was scheduled to be launched on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 10 this year. But due to the ongoing chip shortage and supply chain issues, the launch was pushed for a Diwali release.
Ahead of the phone’s release, Reliance Jio released a video on YouTube titled ‘Making of JioPhone Next’ featuring executives from Jio, Google India, chip-manufacturer Qualcomm and the phone’s manufacturer Neolync.
The short video provides a few official details about the device emphasising that the phone was developed in India and will be produced in India.
Most of the specs and the phone’s renders were leaked earlier, but the video also revealed that the phone will be running on Pragati OS, a custom operating system based on android. Jio and Google jointly developed the operating system with a focus on the Indian market.
No details about the OS have been revealed apart from the fact that it will come preloaded with a host of Jio and Google apps.
The original Jiophone was a feature phone with a 4G internet connection, and JioPhone 2 got a minor upgrade in the form of a physical QWERTY keyboard. According to earlier leaks, the JioPhone Next will be built on Qualcomm’s QM215 platform, and the quad-core CPU will clock speeds up to 1.3GHz.
The new phone is also rumoured to have a much better screen than the 320×240 TFT screens found on the JioPhone 2: the new device will have a 720×1440 sized screen with a 320 DPI pixel density. Speculations are rife about the phone being priced at INR 3,499.
Based on the specifications and the fact that Jio has been testing its NFC and QR-based ‘Jio Pay’ service, we surmised that the service will launch along with the phone, but no such announcements have been made.
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