Mukesh Ambani Aims to Transform TVs into Affordable PCs with Jio's New Device
📷 Image source: techcrunch.com
Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest businessman and chairman of Reliance Industries, has unveiled an ambitious plan to convert ordinary televisions into fully functional personal computers. The initiative, spearheaded by Reliance’s telecom and digital arm Jio, seeks to bridge the digital divide by offering an affordable computing solution for millions of households. At the heart of the project is a compact, low-cost device that connects to any TV via HDMI, effectively turning it into a PC. The gadget, expected to retail at a fraction of traditional computer prices, will run on Jio’s customized operating system, optimized for low hardware requirements. Sources suggest it will support essential productivity tools, web browsing, and streaming—catering to students, remote workers, and first-time internet users. Industry analysts see this as a strategic move to deepen Jio’s penetration in India’s price-sensitive market, where smartphone adoption has plateaued. By leveraging existing TV ownership—over 200 million households—Ambani’s vision could democratize access to computing power without requiring expensive hardware upgrades. Additional reporting from The Economic Times confirms that Jio is collaborating with domestic manufacturers to keep production costs low, with a potential launch slated for early 2026. Competitors like Google and Amazon have explored similar TV-to-PC concepts in emerging markets, but Jio’s vast retail network and bundled data plans may give it an edge. Critics, however, question whether the device can deliver seamless performance for intensive tasks, given its budget specifications. Nonetheless, if successful, the project could redefine digital inclusion in a country where nearly half the population remains offline.
