What you need to know
- Reliance Jio is reportedly working on a low-cost laptop called the JioBook.
- The upcoming laptop will be running "JioOS," which is tipped to be an Android fork.
- It could feature a Snapdragon 665 chipset, an HD display, and 4G LTE connectivity.
India's largest mobile network operator Reliance Jio is developing a low-cost laptop with 4G LTE connectivity, according to a new report from XDA Developers. The upcoming device is said to be called the JioBook and will run an Android fork that could be dubbed JioOS.
The report claims the current JioBook prototypes are using Qualcomm's 11nm Snapdragon 665 chipset, which was introduced in early 2019 and comes with an integrated Snapdragon X12 LTE modem. It is also tipped to feature a 1366 x 768 resolution display, up to 4GB of LLPDDR4X RAM, 64GB of eMMC 5.1 storage, a mini HDMI connector, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a three-axis accelerometer, and a Qualcomm audio chip.
The report doesn't come as a surprise, as a Qualcomm executive had told The Economic Times in 2018 that the company was holding discussions with Reliance Jio to launch laptops with cellular connectivity. Reliance has apparently partnered with China-based Bluebank Communication Technology to manufacture the JioBook. Reliance Jio had previously partnered with Bluebank for its first and second-gen JioPhone models.
Like other Jio products, the JioBook will ship with a ton of Jio apps out of the box. These include JioStore, JioMeet, JioPages, and Jio's ad services. More interestingly, the laptop might also come with Microsoft Teams, Edge, and Office pre-installed.
While there's no word on the JioBook's exact launch timeframe, the report says assembly could begin around mid-May. Since the laptop will be targeted at first-time PC buyers, you can expect it to be way more affordable than the best laptops on the market.
