At this year’s 44th Reliance Annual General Meeting (AGM) the company introduced a budget 4G smartphone called JioPhone Next. The device has been developed in collaboration with Google. The smartphone was earlier announced to go on sale in India on September 10 but now it has been rescheduled as it is currently under advanced trials.
According to the latest information sent by the company, the JioPhone Next rollout in India will start before Diwali, which is before November 4. Originally the sale was planned to happen on September 10, 2021 that is from today but instead, the company has postponed the launch.
There are several key factors that are responsible for the delay and the biggest recent global shortage of the chipsets are said to be the biggest contributor besides pandemic. However, Reliance Jio is yet to confirm the actual cause instead it says that the advanced trials are the reason for the postponement of the JioPhone Next Sale.
While announcing the delay, both the companies Jio and Google have released a joint statement stating, “Both companies have begun testing 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. This additional time will also help mitigate the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages.”
In the statement, the company has not openly confessed the hardware shortage as the core reason for the delay but it indicated the time duration taken during the advanced trial will give its additional time to lessen the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages.
On the other hand, Qualcomm is also struggling to meet the demands. As of now, the company has not yet confirmed the pricing of its upcoming handset but the JioPhone Next is suggested to be priced at $50 which translates to Rs 3, 673.
Speaking of the specifications, the JioPhone Next has been designed by Google for Jio. It comes with a smart camera and will support AI filters, which are said to offer clearer photos at night and in low-light situations to HDR mode that brings out the wider colour and dynamic range in photos.
In addition to this, Google has also partnered with Snap to integrate Indian-specific Snapchat Lenses directly into the phone’s camera, and we will continue to update this experience. The device will also support the latest Android releases and security updates.
While the Google Play Protect will provide protection against and other cyber threats, there will be a dedicated Listen button when tapped allows you to listen to any content on your phone screen. Users who might not be able to read content in their language, with a tap of a button, can now translate what’s on their screen and even have the mobile read it back to them in their language.
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