India’s leading telecom company Reliance held its 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today at Birla Matushri Sabhagar at Mumbai’s Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg. In this occasion chairman of the Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani announced the much awaited 4G feature phone, which is named as “JioPhone”. Along with that, he has also announced its cable TV device, it’s an accessory device.
Users will be able to connect Jio phone to any TV and not just smart TV but even the old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs that you have. All Jio phone users can enjoy viewing their Jio content on their phones from their TV screens, Ambani said.
RIL Mukesh Ambani said that all these Jio feature phones would be made in India. The phone, targeted at 50 crore feature phone users in the country, will be available for pre-booking from 24 August on payment of a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500. This deposit will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone, he said, adding that the price of the phone will be “effective zero”.
He used the occasion to introduce his twin children, Akash and Isha, who presented the phone features that include calls and text messaging on voice command, Internet surfing and cable to connect the device to TV to view content, including videos.
“JioPhone will make the 2G feature phone obsolete,” Ambani claimed, adding that the company is looking to bring 5 million phones to the market a week.
The JioPhone will be available for user testing in beta mode from 15 August and for pre-booking from 24 August.
The Jio 4G feature phone supports 22 Indian languages and incorporates the entire suite of Jio content apps including Jio Music, and Jio Cinema.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat app, will be present Live Speech at every month on the device.
2.4-inch QVGA display, FM radio support, a microSD card slot and a torch are present.
The voice input feature phone responding to voice inputs in Hindi as well as English. With help of Voice commands, we can be used to get the phone to place calls, send messages, play music in apps, respond to queries, etc.
One of the highlights is a safety feature, pressing and holding the five button will send a message with your location to your emergency contacts.
Interestingly, the device also includes NFC, which will be enabled via a software update. A user can link their bank accounts, UPI, and other such payment options with the phone and use it for digital transactions.
A “Jio Phone TV Cable” accessory for the phone will enable any user to connect the device to any TV, even if they have an ancient CRT unit. Content from the phone will be directly viewable on the TV via this accessory.
Mukesh Ambani said, Jio is a young organization and Akash and Isha, our Directors, both 25, lead a large contingent of highly talented professionals.
RIL CEO Ambani says the board has recommended a bonus issue of 1:1 share. This means that all shareholders will get one bonus share for every share held. This is believed to be the largest bonus issue in India.