During an event held yesterday, Jio President Mukesh Ambani announced a commercial agreement to develop a basic Android smartphone, the JioPhone.
Ambani said the partnership aims to build a value-engineered smartphone operating system. Through this partnership, he said the national mission of providing every Indian with a smartphone will be achieved.
While the exact information about the device is not yet known, Jio is expected to release more affordable 4G and 5G devices soon.
In addition, inside information has uncovered a mysterious smartphone from Reliance, codenamed RC545L, which has already received FCC certification. However, we are not sure if this is the expected device in India.
This comes on the heels of the $10 billion Digitization Fund that Google had pledged a few days ago. The company plans to accelerate India's digital economy over the next five years.
Google, in its blog, described the smartphone as a basic device, with optimizations for Android and Play Store.
Jio's last cell phone was a regular cell phone and it had KaiOS. Although the similarity is based on Linux, KaiOS modified for FirefoxOS relies heavily on web-based applications. It is a feature-rich mobile operating system that comes out of the box and ready for basic needs.
So with the partnership, Jio hopes to get an entry-level smartphone with a well-established operating system in every corner of India. While the details haven't been revealed, it could be an improved version of Google's Android Go project. But we will have to wait a little longer to confirm such information.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said:
"Our collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who currently do not own a smartphone, improving the mobile experience for all"
With the new smartphones, users will be able to access the Google Play Store and use basic applications such as Gmail, Google Maps, Hangouts, among others.
Ambani added that he wanted the country to win "2G Mukt" soon. That means getting rid of the old network and offering more affordable 4G and 5G smartphones. The company also announced that it is preparing for a home 5G network that will be developed in-house by Jio.
