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Tag: JioPhone Next

  • Glance buys out gaming firm Gambit in NFT push

    Glance buys out gaming firm Gambit in NFT push

    Mumbai: InMobi’s consumer internet division Glance has announced the acquisition of Indian gaming firm Gambit Sports. This will accelerate Singapore-based Glance’s ambition of building the biggest platform for NFT-based live gaming experiences for gen-Z, across markets, it said.

    The acquisition brings together Glance’s scale and lock screen-centric innovation with Gambit’s expertise and understanding of the gaming ecosystem. Glance Games – Glance’s lock screen gaming platform – has over 45 million monthly active users across Asia. Close to 70 per cent are in the age group of 18 to 34, while over 40 per cent of its gamers are female, the company shared.

    Gambit has deep experience in building platforms with high engagement and monetisation. Co-founded in 2015 by Yashashvi Takallapalli, Gaurav Konar, Ranaveer Sankieneni, and Deepak Venkatramani, the company owns and operates Nostragamus (Nostra Pro) – a popular gaming platform with fantasy sports, poker, rummy, quiz, and hyper-casual games. Over 100 million games have been played on the Nostragamus platform, and it has close to 10 million registered users.   

    Glance will leverage Gambit’s expertise to launch engaging live gaming experiences including tournaments, game shows, game streaming and multi-player games on lock screen. Gambit will also enable Glance to launch multiple casual-to-midcore games that can be enjoyed by diverse sets of gamers. In the coming quarters, Glance also plans to launch NFTs in live gaming. This will potentially enable creators, streamers and developers to monetise through assets and NFT-based game creation while giving gamers unique experiences that they love.  
    “Gaming is the most exciting content category across the world today and Gen-Z spends more time on gaming than on any other activity online,” said InMobi co-founder and Glance president and COO Piyush Shah. “Giving users live, connected, interactive gaming experiences on the lock screen is key to Glance’s vision of building the world’s largest live internet platform. We also aim to launch creator-led NFTs for live gaming which will generate unique ‘play-to-earn’ and ‘play-to-own’ possibilities for the entire gaming ecosystem.”

    “We have already started seeing great traction for live gaming on Glance. For instance, over 10 million users watch live game streams on Glance every week now. With Glance and Gambit’s combined strengths and our belief that there is a game for every person, we envision doubling the number of monthly active gamers on Glance Games in the next year,” added Gambit co-founder and CEO Yashashvi Takallapalli. 

    In February 2022, Glance had signed an agreement to raise $200 million funding from Jio Platforms to accelerate its global expansion. The company also entered into a business partnership with Jio through which Glance’s lock screen platform will be integrated into JioPhone Next smartphones. This integration is expected to further boost the reach of Glance Games.

  • JioPhone Next smartphone to hit shelves this Diwali

    JioPhone Next smartphone to hit shelves this Diwali

    Mumbai: Jio and Google have announced that the JioPhone Next smartphone will be available in stores from Diwali. The JioPhone Next will be the most affordable smartphone in the world with an entry price of Rs 1,999.

    The smartphone will be made available across the country at Reliance Retail’s extensive network of JioMart Digital retail locations. The network of 30,000 retail partners will provide the JioPhone Next with a paperless digital financing option.

    “I am delighted that Google and Jio teams have succeeded in bringing this breakthrough device to Indian consumers in time for the festival season, in spite of the current global supply chain challenges caused by the Covid pandemic,” said Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani. “I have always been a firm believer in the power of the digital revolution to enrich, enable and empower the lives of 1.35 billion Indians. We have done it in the past with connectivity. Now we are enabling it again with a smartphone device.”

    He added, “I heartily congratulate Sundar Pichai and his team at Google, and everyone in Jio who partnered for offering this wonderful Diwali Gift to our countrymen.”

    The JioPhone Next runs on Pragati OS, an optimised version of Android developed by Google and Jio to address the unique needs of millions of smartphone users across the country. It is powered by a Qualcomm processor and has embedded voice-first features that will enable Indians to consume content and navigate the phone in their language of choice. The smartphone will have access to millions of apps via the Google Play Store.

    “The JioPhone Next is an affordable smartphone designed for India, inspired by the belief that everyone in India should benefit from the opportunities the internet creates,” said Alphabet Inc and Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai. “To build it, our teams had to work together to solve complex engineering and design challenges, and I am excited to see how millions of people will use these devices to better their lives and communities.”

  • JioPhone Next rollout to commence before Diwali

    JioPhone Next rollout to commence before Diwali

    Mumbai: The launch of the much-awaited affordable smartphone, JioPhone Next being jointly designed by Jio and Google is in advanced trials and will commence before Diwali, the company announced on Friday.

    Jio said they have made considerable progress towards launching the made-for-India smartphone. The first-of-its-kind device features an optimised operating system based on Android and Play Store.

    “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,” it said.

    The device and the operating system aims to offer “premium capabilities” that have until now been associated with more powerful smartphones, including voice-first features that enable people to consume content and navigate the phone in their own language, deliver a great camera experience and get the latest Android feature and security updates said the company.

    According to the company, the phone is also built with exciting features like the Google Assistant, automatic read-aloud and language translation for any on-screen text, a smart camera with India-centric filters and much more. “The companies remain committed to their vision of opening up new possibilities for millions of Indians, especially those who will experience the internet for the very first time,” it said in a media statement.

  • Google, Jio unveil affordable smartphone JioPhone Next

    KOLKATA: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)’s telecom arm Jio democratised internet usage in India in 2016 with the launch of affordable 4G connections. The company did not limit itself to just telecom after its humongous success but transformed itself into a technology platform. Over the last year, it also struck several partnerships with global tech giants including Google.

    At the 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of RIL on Thursday, chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani made yet another major announcement about taking the partnership one step further. The two companies have now collaborated to develop India’s ‘most affordable smartphone’ JioPhone Next.

    The fully-featured smartphone will be available from 10 September. However, the company has not revealed the price yet.

    JioPhone Next will have features like a voice assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, smart camera with augmented reality filters. It seems quite clear that the company is not only looking at affordability but the user-friendly aspect for mass consumers. And language translation features may lead to another revolution in regionalisation of the digital economy in India.

    In addition to that, Ambani has announced a new 5G partnership between Google Cloud and Jio. The latter will use Google Cloud’s cutting-edge technologies to power Jio’s 5G Solutions and for powering the internal needs of key Reliance growth businesses like Reliance Retail, JioMart, JioSaavn, and JioHealth.

    “We are confident of being the first to launch full-fledged 5G services. And, because of our converged, future-proof architecture, Jio’s network is uniquely positioned to quickly and seamlessly upgrade from 4G to 5G,” said Ambani, “To develop the end-to-end 5G ecosystem we are now working with leading global partners to develop a full range of 5G-capable devices. The Jio 5G technology is also well-positioned to create compelling applications for consumers and enterprises spanning Healthcare, Education, Entertainment, Retail and other key verticals of the economy.”