Reliance Jio has announced a virtual PC called Jio Cloud PC for enterprise and home users. A Jio executive said that the device requires no “upfront investment” or “periodical upgrading” and users will only have to pay based on the extent of usage.
The company didn’t share any specifics on the hardware and software of the device, however, the pictures shared during the company’s 45th annual general meeting (AGM) shows a compact box that looks similar to Apple’s Mac Mini PC and Microsoft’s recently announced Project Volterra . Both these devices run on ARM processors and have in-built neural processing units (NPU) for running machine learning (ML) tasks.
Jio’s device seems slightly different as it talks about computing over the cloud, which sounds similar to virtual computing devices offered by companies such as N Computing. These devices allow companies to share a single Windows OS with multiple users through desktop virtualisation.
According to Jio, the Jio Cloud PC is linked to another solution called JioAirFiber, which was also announced at the AGM.
“Since you get fiber-like speeds over the air without any wires, we are calling it JioAirFiber,” said Akash Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio.
Kiran Thomas, CEO of Jio Platforms said, “Using JioAirFiber, customers can do away with all such expenses, and opt to use a virtual PC hosted in the cloud.”
“No large upfront investments, no upgrades. You only pay to the extent you use the Cloud PC, resulting in a super-affordable way to bring the power of a PC, even multiple PCs, to every Indian home and business,” added Thomas.
Ambani added that Jio has developed something called a JioAirFiber Home Gateway, which is a wireless single-device solution that can be used as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot at home.
Jio did not share details on when the JioAirFibre or Jio Cloud PC will launch in the market. However, Thomas said that they have started replacing many PCs across the Reliance group of companies with the Jio Cloud PC.
Jio Cloud PC also marks Jio’s entry into the PC segment, which has seen unprecedented growth in India after the pandemic led to a shift to remote work and learning.
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