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Telecom giant Reliance Jio has been working hard on its hardware offering, launching phones and laptops in the budget segment. The company launched its second laptop, the JioBook (2023), earlier this year in July at an aggressive price of Rs. 16499. Jio now seems set to expand its PC lineup, with a new report claiming that the company is planning to launch a cloud laptop in the market for around Rs. 15000. The cloud laptop, which will reduce the high costs associated with laptop delivery by running Jio Cloud, will be launched in India in the coming months.
A account The Economic Times on Saturday reported that the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom firm is in talks with top manufacturers such as HP, Acer and Lenovo to bring the laptop to the country in a few months.
Citing a senior Jio official, an ET report said that the laptop will be a “dumb terminal” with all its processing and storage functions performed on the Jio Cloud infrastructure, reducing the need for expensive hardware and thus lowering the cost of ownership. notebook. Keep in mind, however, that a cloud-based computer will need an always-on Internet connection to access storage, processing, and other functions from the cloud that a regular laptop can perform.
The cost of a laptop depends on its hardware like memory, processing power, chipset, etc. The larger capacity of these devices increases both costs and battery capacity. What we're doing is we're de-scaling all of that and all the laptop processing will be done in Jio's cloud at the backend,” ET quoted a Jio official as saying.
The report also said that Jio plans to pair the laptop with a monthly cloud subscription, similar to Apple's iCloud or Google One subscription. However, the price of the cloud membership will be confirmed at a later date. The cloud subscription is also likely to bundle a host of Jio services, with specialized features available on higher-end plans.
The proposed cloud laptop is currently being tested on an HP Chromebook, the report added. Additionally, cloud computing software can also be accessed on existing devices such as a desktop or smart TV without having to purchase a cloud-based device.
Back in September, Jio launched AirFiber, a digital entertainment and Wi-Fi service that offers access to over 550 digital TV channels along with subscription to 16 OTT apps. Aimed at customers who have limited fiber internet at their location, Jio's AirFiber services offer Wi-Fi-like internet connectivity based on 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access). Jio AirFiber is now available in 262 cities across India, with plans starting from Rs. 599 per month.
In July, the company launched the JioBook (2023), the successor to the first JioBook launched last year. The latest JioBook is powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT8788 processor and runs on the Android-based JioOS operating system.
Earlier this month, Jio also launched the JioPhone Prima 4G feature phone at Rs. 2599. The phone runs on the KaiOS platform and supports popular apps like WhatsApp, YouTube, Google Search, Facebook and an array of Jio services. The company is also believed to be working on a 5G phone.
