New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS): As Reliance Jio gets ready to launch its next handset soon in the festive season, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that in three-five years, the affordable JioPhone Next device will have a lot of impact in connecting and helping millions take advantage of a smartphone.

The upcoming JioPhone Next smartphone will house Pragati OS, powered by Android, which is touted as a world-class operating system built specifically for India.

"People are looking for access and there's definitely been a wave of them who have adopted smartphones (in India)," Pichai said during the earnings call after announcing robust quarterly results late on Tuesday.

"There is still demand to shift from feature phones to smartphones. JioPhone Next is like building a phone beyond the English-speaking community and going local, doing it in a way that many more people can take advantage of a smartphone," he elaborated.

The device is built with exciting features like the Google Assistant, automatic read-aloud and language translation for any on-screen text, a smart camera with India-centric filters and much more.

Pichai said that he views JioPhone Next as laying the foundation for the next wave of digital transformation.

"It's a version of digital transformation. And I think over the 3-5 year time-frame, the Jio phone will end up having a lot of impact. But overall, India continues to be an exciting market for us. We see strength across the categories we are involved in. And you'll continue to see us stay focused there," Pichai noted.

The device will support all the available android apps which users can download and use on the device via Google Play Store.

In the span of five years, Jio has become a household name in India. With 430 million users, its services span geographies, economic and social classes.

With JioPhone Next, the company aims to take a decisive step towards its vision of democratising digital connectivity in India.