Reliance launches LYF Water 5 smartphone with 13MP camera & VoLTE support

Reliance has expanded its LYFsmartphone range with the launch of LYF Water 5 smartphone. Priced at Rs 11,699, the LYF Water 5 is exclusively available on Amazon.
The handset comes with dual-sim functionality and VoLTE support like other smartphones in the LYF series. Reliance LYF Water 5 has a 5-inch HD display of 1280x720 pixels resolution protected with Dragontrail glass on top.



Source: TOI

Reliance Jio’s LYF smartphone make it to top 5

While companies across the globe struggled to sell phones last year, India offered them relief with a 23% growth in buying phones.

Peter Richardson, Research Director at Counterpoint Research said, “India which surpassed USA to become the second largest smartphone market in terms of users has continued to register strong demand for smartphone. There is a massive opportunity for every player in the mobile value chain when the second largest market by volume is still under penetrated and growing, while the rest of the world smartphone demand has waned. India is the next China.

“To provide some colour, more than a billion smartphones will be sold in India over the next five years. This will drive the number of smartphone users from quarter of a billion to more than half a billion in the same time period, which will still be just 55% of the total population. Furthermore, the advent of advanced 4G LTE network infrastructure will also be a key catalyst in the country’s smartphone adoption in coming years. The role of players such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel will be important to drive this growth by leveraging an ecosystem-level approach.”

According to their report, Reliance Jio, even before launching their SIM cards to the public has managed to make a dent in the Lyf brand of smartphone market. “A surprise in the quarter was the rise of Reliance Jio’s Lyf brand in first quarter of its inception, to top 5 position in the smartphone segment capturing 7% market share. This is the level of scale Jio is targeting once it switches on its LTE network later this year. We estimate, this quarter strong shipment was more of channel filling, the actual sell-through will happen in Q2 2016 as the operator starts full-fledged marketing and promotional activity. Lyf also instantly jumped to become the second largest LTE phone supplier surpassing Micromax & Lenovo during Q1’16,” said Conterpoint Research.

Source: Hindustan Times

Reliance Jio will fight competitors on quality of service: Top executive

Reliance Jio Infocomm will not fight competitors on the price front, but on quality of service, a top company executive said, as the Mukesh Ambani-owned telco tried to deflect talk of a cheaper offering ahead of its impending 4G services launch.

"We are not saying we will lower the price, but we will create a better experience," Rainer Deutschmann, chief product and innovation officer, told ET, adding that if customers want true 4G experience, they would need devices built for it. "People are willing to pay for connectivity, but don't like to pay if they don't get an experience."

In his first media interaction since taking on this role in 2014, the former Deutsche Telekom executive said the data prices in India are "already at such a low level" compared with other markets. His comment comes in the backdrop of fears that Jio's entry would trigger a fierce price battle in the industry.

Source: TOI

Mobile tower radiation have no impact on health: Experts

SHILLONG, March 30: Allaying fears on mobile towers being a contributory factor to health hazards and decline of agricultural and horticultural production in the state, four top experts including the Director of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGHRIHMS) Shillong Dr AG Ahangar termed the fear as a ‘misconception’.

In an interactive session held at Shillong on Wednesday, the experts said this.

Dr Ramesh Teegela of Grace Cancer foundation said, “There is no scientific data to indicate the existence of cancer risk from mobile towers emissions”, even as he cited the findings carried out by the World Health Organizations’ (WHO) and the United States Food and Drug administration (USFDA).

He said that these unfounded fears has created panic amongst the common man and will affect the upcoming city like Shillong.

Dr A k Ayangar, Director of NEIGHRIMS, stated that although there were some notions that mobile towers cause health hazard, nowhere in the medical literature stated that the mobile towers have the ability to affect the human DNA.

The Director of NEIGHRIMS while laying into rest on the concerns that the patients with pace maker and stands in their heart could be affected by EMF radiation, said, “As an open heart surgeon I can say that it is misleading”.

Both the super medical specialist, however, cautioned that there should be a judicious way of using the handset and to dismiss the notion of Mobile towers being the source of health concerns.

Ex-officio Secretary and former member (Technology) Telecom Commission of India, SS Sirohi said, “India follows one of the strictest norms in permissible levels of EMF emissions, which are ten time more stringent than the international standards prescribed by the WHO.

Asked specifically on the EMF impact on plantations and other species especially when there have been insinuations about the so called impact on the citrus fruits, broom sticks cultivation within the periphery where the mobile towers are based, Sirohi said, “There is no direct evidence. Other factors like climate change, air pollution, use of pesticides and others could have come into play,”

Source: Sentinel Assam

Jio to offer 40-80 times better mobile broadband speeds in India, says Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries took the stage at FICCI FRAMES 2016 and spoke about the future of digital media and Reliance Jio services.

Addressing the audience, Mukesh Ambani mentioned the Indian media industry has grown by 9 times in the last 12 years. The total value, he says, is expected to hit $100 billion in 10 years. Calling Jio the “world’s biggest startup,” he added that the Rs 1,50,000 crore investment in the service is because he sees digitisation as the “defining trend of the century.”

Adding the “the best is yet to come for the Indian media industry,” Ambani said that Jio would significantly up the quantity and quality of mobile broadband coverage by 80-100 times. He expects Jio to offer coverage to 90 percent of Indians and also speeds that are 40-80 times greater than the current average.

Speaking of the potential of digital media content and accessible broadband, Ambani said that an affordable video network would change the way we learn.

“It will revolutionise education in India. We’re moving from audio to video,” he said. Adding in that the world was graduating to a tele-media world and that we are now part of a tele-media front.

He ended with a statement indicating that Reliance Jio would do its best to support and boost the Digital India initiative because it’s about bringing people together and join the Digital India movement.

Also at the event was Uday Shankar, CEO of StarTV, who spoke about how story-telling, coupled with technology would change the world.

Referring to Jio, Uday Shankar said, “I have never seen such anticipation for a product even before its launch.” He went on to say that there was a tectonic shift happening in the industry, that change was happening faster than anticipated.

“We are looking at a truly global world which has no patience,” he added.

FICCI is the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. It’s a non-government, non-profit organisation that works with closely with the government on policy issues related to Indian businesses and the industry.

FICCI FRAMES is the biggest event of its kind in Asia and is claimed to be the foremost business conclave in the entertainment industry.

FICCI FRAMES 2016 is running from 30 March to 1 April at the Renaissance Centre in Powai, Mumbai.

Source: First Post

Jio Join app: First look and comprehensive feature review

We recently shared with you the initial impressions of the Jio Mi-Fi pocket router which acts as a bridge between non VoLTE smartphones and voice services on Jio’s 4G LTE network. Today we would like to share with you the look and design of the app which makes this possible and brief you about its features and capabilities.

Jio join app is a one stop solution for all calling and texting needs for users who wish to enjoy these services on Jio’s 4G network without relying on a fall back to 3G or 2G network of a partner operator. Calls made over the LTE network offer HD voice with better clarity than analogue cellular voice. Jio Join app can be installed on 4G smartphones lacking VoLTE  or even on WiFi enabled non 4G smartphones to be used in conjunction with the MiFi device. Layout wise the app has a minimalistic approach with 3 neat sections for contacts, messages and calls. For phones which will only be used on the Jio network, the app can be set as the default dialer to make outgoing calls. For phones which have another operator’s sim inserted and wish to make calls through the connected Jio MiFi device, the Jio Join app will prompt each time a number is dialed from the stock dialer and ask whether the call should be placed on cellular network or routed as a VoLTE call on the Jio network.

The contacts section has 3 sub sections for favourites, All contacts and contacts who have Jio Join app installed. Clicking on a contact’s display pic gives a popup card which gives options for chatting (SMS with non Jio join users or instant messaging for Jio join users), audio calling, video calling or sharing of files (with other Jio join users). Other features exclusively available for calling Jio join users include Rich call and Urgent call. A rich call allows the caller to attach a customised short message, a photo and a GPS location which would give a brief idea to the receiver of the call what the purpose of the call is even without picking it up. Also calls can be marked as urgent to ensure they are picked up on a priority basis by the receiver.

The video calling interface is pretty standard as visible in the screenshot above. During a live video call the options available are mute and unmute the microphone, mute or unmute the speaker, switch on or off the camera, put the call on hold, pull up the dialer pad, switch between front and back cam, send a text message or attach and send a file. The design is intuitive and user friendly. An indicator towards the top left indicates the total call duration and the current signal strength.

Jio join can be set as your default SMS client. The layout of the messages section is very similar to that of the Jio chat app. Clicking on a conversation reveals the chat window with the conversation in thread view. To non Jio join users you can send regular SMS and to fellow Jio join users you can send instant messages, share images, videos, voice recordings, GPS location, .zip and .pdf files. To the top of the chat window there is a phone icon which acts as a shortcut to place a VoLTE call to the person you are chatting with.

Note: All data consumed while making a voice call to non Jio join numbers through VoLTE on the Jio network is zero rated and only the per second or per minute calling tariff will apply just like a regular GSM call and the same applies for data consumed in sending and receiving SMS to non Jio join contacts. However when making a call through VoWiFi on a third party non Jio WiFi network, the subscriber may be charged for the data consumed by his broadband provider. All calls and instant messages to fellow Jio join users will be free.

Source: Telecom Talk

Reliance Jio sister company launches entry-level VoLTE smartphones, LYF Wind 6 and LYF Flame

Reliance Jio's sister company, Reliance Retail, has expanded its LYF smartphone portfolio with the launch of entry level LYF Wind 6 and LYF Flame 1 devices. The company has priced these smartphones at Rs. 7090, and Rs. 6490, respectively.

These phones are available across India in more than 1,20,000 retail outlets through a network of more than 1200 distributors.

The company said that the two devices represent one of the most affordable and superior entry-level smartphones in the Indian market. Both the devices support VoLTE and VoWi-Fi, which will deliver a true 4G experience when used on a VoLTE supporting network.

"With Wind 6 and Flame 1, everyone can experience HD-quality voice and video calls, multi-party voice and video conferencing, Wi-Fi calling, high-speed Internet, and seamless switching of a call from the service provider's network to any available Wi-Fi network," the company said in a statement.

Both Wind 6 and Flame 1 come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset and 1 GB RAM. Both the devices feature a 5MP front camera, apart from a 5MP rear camera, with special modes such as blink detection, smile detection, etc. A complimentary transparent back cover makes for an attractive proposition.

Wind 6 has a 5-inch IPS display, 1 GB RAM, and premium gloss finish.

Flame 1 is available in four vibrant colours - white, black, dark blue, and dark red, while Wind 6 is available in white, black, and gold colours.

Source: ET Telecom