The first batch of JioPhone[1] units will become available Tuesday, August 15 as beta trials of the 4G feature phone are scheduled to commence today, a little over three weeks after it was unveiled at the Reliance Industries AGM 2017. This, of course, does not mean the handset has been released in the market, only that Reliance Jio[2] has made it available to a select group of users to test it out before its public release in September - the phone is being beta tested by Jio employees for now. The Jio Phone beta trials will allow the company to identify and iron out software and hardware issues before it goes in the hands of consumers in September.
JioPhone has several feature that have not been commonly seen on feature phones, such as 4G VoLTE[3] Internet, compatibility with multimedia apps, and option to mirror content to television sets via a proprietary cable. This beta trial period will allow the company to test how these features, along with the other features the handset has, to iron out the kinks. As was the case with the Reliance Jio telecom network, the JioPhone beta trials will likely be limited to employees of the company, and people in their network.
Jio Phone bookings open offline
While the 4G feature phone will not be available to use for consumers till September, bookings for the device will begin both online and offline on August 24. Gadgets 360 has discovered that certain offline retailers in the Delhi-NCR area are already taking JioPhone bookings[4], ahead of the official schedule. You will need a copy of your Aadhaar card to make the booking, and only one unit will be made available to...