JioPhone, Reliance Jio's ambitious venture to rope in large hordes of new smartphone users from India's hinterlands with a transition phone, has now got what it had skipped—the apps that are most desired by smartphone users.

Isha Ambani, daughter of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, today announced at Reliance IndustriesNSE -2.59 %' 41st annual general meeting in Mumbai that JioPhone would now come equipped with YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp. The apps will work with voice commands as well which means users can use their voice to play videos. These features will be available to all JioPhone users from August 15 this year.

JioPhone 2 features:

►Operating system: KaiOS, same as JioPhone.

►512MB of RAM and 4GB of ROM

►SD card for expandable storage up to 128GB.

►Display of 2.4QVGA

►2-megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera

►Backs dual-SIM, LTE, VoLTE, and VoWi-Fi

►Phone supports FM, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, and NFC.

►Now supports Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp applications

Available under monsoon offer. You can replace their older JioPhone for a new JioPhone 2 for Rs 500

JioPhone 2 for Rs 500

The company also announced JioPhone 2, a high-end model of JioPhone. It is powered by horizontal screen viewing experience and a full keypad

Last year, Reliance Jio came out with its disruptive ploy—a 4G feature phone, JioPhone. Jio's second wave of disruption after freebies and cheap data targeted the predominantly rural feature phone users who wish to switch to a smartphone but find it expensive.

JioPhone, which came at an effective price of Rs 0, rattled the existing players who were likely to lose a big chunk of their low-end voice customers. It was seen to be hitting low-end handset makers as well. However, lack of Facebook, Whatsapp and Youtube apps on JioPhone was seen as a big handicap.

 

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged the Centre to immediately intervene to address a severe shortage of commercial LPG in Bengaluru, saying the crisis is forcing restaurants and related establishments to shut down and impacting a wide cross-section of the public dependent on the hospitality sector.

In a letter written to Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday and shared with the media on Thursday, Siddaramaiah highlighted a sharp mismatch between demand and supply, noting that only a fraction of the required cylinders is being made available.

“As against the demand of 50,000 LPG cylinders from restaurants, hotels, catering establishments and PG accommodations etc., we are able to supply only 1,000 cylinders per day,” the Chief Minister said.

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He added that the shortage has led to a visible increase in shutting down of establishments due to unavailability of commercial LPG, affecting students, IT professionals, farmers, dairy producers and others reliant on the hospitality ecosystem.

Referring to recent directions from the Ministry prioritising domestic LPG supply, Siddaramaiah said the State has taken steps to regulate allocation for essential segments in line with the Centre’s guidelines, but the situation remains critical.

The CM also flagged the absence of an integrated monitoring system for commercial LPG distribution, in contrast to the existing IT system for domestic gas supply, leading to gaps in transparency and oversight.

He further pointed out that Auto LPG, a key fuel for autorickshaws that provide last-mile connectivity in Bengaluru, is also facing similar issues due to the lack of a monitoring mechanism.

Noting that India is expected to receive two LPG tankers soon, Siddaramaiah sought the Union Minister’s intervention to ensure adequate allocation to Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru, considering its operational needs and dependency patterns.

“I request your kind intervention to ensure adequate allocation and availability of commercial LPG and Auto LPG to Karnataka, keeping in view the operational requirements and unique dependency patterns of the State, especially city of Bengaluru,” he said.