Google has raked in a record $18.9 billion net profit for the July-Sept quarter on Tuesday as the global tech giant reaps the benefit of the surge in online activity during the pandemic.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced a 41% jump in revenue to $65.1 billion during the quarter as the demand for the tech giant’s offerings such as the Google search engine, ad marketplace, YouTube video platform and cloud services shot up as the work-from-home lifestyle took off in a big way worldwide.

"This quarter's results show how our artificial intelligence investments are enabling us to build more helpful products for people and our partners," said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google.

"As the digital transformation and shift to hybrid work continue, our Cloud services are helping organizations collaborate," he added.

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The surge in Alphabet's earnings comes as the tech giant faces increased scrutiny from regulators regarding its market dominance.

JioPhone Next 

Pichai also confirmed that the JioPhone Next smartphone would be launched in India by Diwali. The smartphone has been co-developed by Reliance and runs on Pragati OS — a new Android-based software and aims to go beyond English to include special features for Indian customers. 

Pichai said during Google’s latest earnings call said JioPhone Next will mark the big shift from feature phones to smartphones for India’s masses.

The new JioPhone Next was unveiled in a teaser video recently is set to be powered by a Qualcomm chipset. Other features include voice assistance, Read Aloud, Translate, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and preloaded Google and Jio apps. Rear camera features will include portrait mode, night mode, and preloaded custom India-augmented reality filters.