Reliance Retail, sister company of upcoming telecom operator Jio, is bringing out two 4K UHD smart TVs in India, sized 50 inch and 65 inch.
The 50-inch model will be priced Rs 55,900, while the 65-inch model will be a premium one with a tag of Rs 1.55 lakh.
Both prices are before discounts, and prices can vary from state to state.
The models will be made available in coming days via Reliance Digital. The launch is coming just days ahead of the introduction of Jio branded 4G services under the Reliance brand, and are expected to give a boost to the adoption of LTE-based content services.
Though called televisions, the two models can also be seen as Android computers. They come with Android 4.4 operating system and 2 GB of RAM and internet connectivity. To use them as a computer, one can plug in a mouse and a keyboard into the various USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
It is not known if you can put a SIM card into them directly or whether you need to connect them using WiFi.
The LYF TVs also come with ‘air mouse remote’, which means that you can use the remote controller as a mouse to move the cursor by pointing it at the screen. The TVs also have social media and web browsing as well as voice search.
You can also mirror the display of your phone on your TV wirelessless using screen mirroring software or Miracast. USB-based MHL wired connectivity is also present.
The IPS screen has a UHD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, a contrast ratio of 1:1200 and a response time of 12 ms.
“Watch your favourite soaps or sporting event with high class audio that fills the room with thumping audio. The attractive features of this television makes it a suitable product to lighten up your living room,” according to the marketing line for the TVs.
As we reported a month ago, Reliance Jio’s launch is likely to see at least three smart TV models being introduced by its sister firm, and these two seem to be the first two of them.
The LYF TVs are made by one of the biggest television manufacturers in the world, based in China.
Unlike other brands that give one-year warranty, Reliance will give 2 years of warranty for the LYF TVs.
Reliance Jio will also launch smart set-top-boxes that can turn ordinary TVs into 4G-enabled computers. These set-top-boxes will come with LTE connectivity, Android operating system, social networking and a host of other features such as on-demand video, video calling from the living room and music streaming.
Jio is expected to combine its 4G-based video-on-demand service with a more traditional linear broadcasting service such as DTH or cable, possibly leveraging Reliance Digital — the DTH arm of Reliance Communications — in the process. The company already has a fairly extensive sharing agreement with Reliance Communications, which was part of parent Reliance Industries before being spun off.
However, the set top box will be unveiled only towards the end of this month or early next, when Jio announces the launch of its 4G service in the top cities and towns of the country. The service will then be introduced to smaller towns and villages in phases, covering 80% of the population by the end of this year.