Want Jio Sim, Need Patience or Payment

Getting a Reliance Jio 4G SIM isn't easy, but it's worth it

Jio, the 4G service that Reliance Industries is preparing for an official launch, is one of the most exciting things to happen in the world of Indian telecom market in a long long time. Starved of data and reliable 3G or 4G services, people have great hopes from Jio. The fact that it is currently available for free for almost all 4G-enabled phones is making it a great crowd-puller. 

The rush is truly maddening. People queuing outside Reliance Digital stores and Reliance Digital Express Mini are real. And in places where there are no queues, that is because of some mechanism contrived by the store managers to keep the crowd out, a mechanism that may seem just or unfair, depending what it entails and how badly you want a SIM. 

Way you get it

1. The easy way out

Buying a Lyf smartphone is the easiest method to get a Jio SIM, for free. Every Reliance Lyf smartphone comes pre-bundled with a SIM card that is pre-activated with Jio's 4G Preview offer. Simply buy the phone, and you're good to go. Problem is, almost all of the Lyf smartphones suck. Prices range from Rs 3,000 to around Rs 20,000. Still, it's hard to recommend a Lyf smartphone over already existent smartphones. What if I want just the Jio SIM, and I want it easy? Well, I would go buy the cheapest option: Flame 3, Flame 4 or Flame 5. I am personally not recommending the phones to anyone, but if you mind all the hassle and technicalities of getting a Jio SIM, buying the Flame 3, Flame 4 or Flame 5 is the only (easy) way out there, for now.

2. Buy a Samsung Smart Phone

Jio has tied up with Samsung to offer its 4G Preview scheme on select handsets. These include the Samsung Galaxy A5 2015, Galaxy A7 2015, Galaxy A8, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy Note 5 Duos, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Galaxy S7, and the Galaxy S7 Edge. If you have any of these phones, well, consider yourself lucky. But the same question arise here what to do with our existing phones.

3. Week-long wait for SIM card

In most Digital Express Mini stores in Delhi - the shops run by phone dealers in partnership with Reliance - the wait for the Jio SIM is now running into 7-10 days, even if there are no queues outside the store. "If you want a Jio SIM, you have to leave your name, number and phone's manufacturer. Please list them in this register," a Xpress Mini store manager in South Delhi .In on Saturday. "Once the people who are waiting ahead of you get it, we will give you a call and you will have to come to the store with KYC documents (address proof, photos etc) to get you SIM."

Forget free, pay some money

When the demand outstrips supply, for many there is often a way to make some extra money. With Jio's popularity the phone dealers too have sensed there chance. Although, it is not condoned by Jio, the same Xpress Mini store that won't give consumers the Jio SIM without making them wait for a week, is willing to give it all in case a consumers buys a phone from him. "Of course, you can get a Jio SIM today. Buy a phone from me. This way I take care of my consumers and not the whole Delhi that is rushing into my shop to claim a free SIM card," he said. 
Similarly, all major phone shops have the stock of Jio SIM cards but they are not only allowed to bundle them with handset they sell. For example if you buy a LG or Samsung phone, or a Lyf phone, you can get the Jio SIM from almost any shop.

Relience Jio is now available over 16 diffrent brands Smartphones.

After Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Asus, Micromax and Yu, Gionee, Karbonn, Lava and Xolo Reliance Digital on Monday tied up with Sony, Videocon and Sansui to offer its Jio 4G Preview scheme on all their 4G-enabled smartphones. This is in line with  our source that "the offer has been extended to virtually every 4G-compatible handset out there, but, a broader roll-out will take at least a week."

Users can avail of the Jio Preview Offer at all Reliance Digital stores (including Digital Xpress and Digital Xpress Mini), and other select smartphone retail stores across the country.

Under the Preview offer, consumers who purchase an eligible 4G smartphone will get a free Reliance Jio 4G SIM and complementary access to unlimited HD voice, video calling, unlimited SMS, unlimited high-speed data services, and access to Jio Apps. Existing users can meanwhile get their free Jio SIM by generating relevant Preview code on their phones using the My Jio app.

Overall The pricing of internet and call charges after three months are still a mystery, but until then customers can enjoy the services with no strings attached.

MIUI 8 Update Rolling Out Through Air

MIUI 8 update is rolling out , previously rolled out to the entire range of devices, such as the Redmi Note 3, Mi2/Mi2S, Redmi1s, and Mi4i among others, is now available over-the-air to users of the flagship smartphone in India.  The global version has all the features of the Chinese version that we saw before, but Xiaomi also added some new features in this new update.

The notification drawer has the biggest change, with a consolidated list and a weather panel at the top that changes color and animation according to the weather. Xiaomi has also incorporated the color changing status bar and animations in other apps across the UI.

Taking a entire page screen shot is a messed up thing but now you can do it with MIUI 8.The scrolling screenshot feature lets you take a screenshot of an entire page by scrolling and combining multiple images into one long screenshot that you can then crop to your liking. The Quick Ball feature puts a circle on the side of the display that houses quick shortcuts to various functions such as back, app switcher, or shortcuts to apps that you can customize.

Now you can chat with two whatsapp on same mobile yes,  MIUI 8 also added support for Dual Apps and dual spaces. Dual Apps allows you to have two instances of the same app on your device, so you can, for example, have two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone, one for each SIM, something you couldn't do before.

You can have two instances of any app. Dual spaces lets you have two different workspaces on your device, each with its own set of apps, customizations, and image gallery, and you can enter a custom passcode on the lockscreen to enter either of the space. This will be especially handy on tablets that get shared between people. 

The update also comes with a redesigned Gallery app (letting users add filters, crop images and use various in-built video editing tools), a new Notes app (which can be secured by using by password or fingerprints), and a text message filter feature to warn users about phishing attacks. Apart from these, MIUI 8 also comes in with a power saving mode which freezes the background apps and saves the battery.