Nokia redefines the feature phone
Nokia, the master of emerging markets is looking to spread more feature phone joy to the next billion customers with the new Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311 phones, expanding the successful Asha family. The Asha family of devices first debuted in October 2011 and has since been made available in over 130 markets worldwide.
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While the once mobile giant attempts to find its footing in the Windows Phone space, it continues to churn out affordable devices in the low-end, budget-driven emerging markets where it is traditionally dominant.
Nokia Asha 311 – the powerful Asha
The beautifully crafted Nokia Asha 311 is a fast and fluid 3.5G capable device with a bright 3.0″ WQVGA scratch-resistant capacitive glass touchscreen, powered by a single-core 1GHz processor. It comes with a 3.2MP camera and pre-loaded with Nokia Maps and 15-level pre-bundled version of Angry Birds. Also pre-loaded is a social client which enables access to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. A big plus is also the availability of WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging platform. The Asha Touch interface over the venerable Symbian Series 40 (S40) platform brings fun and ease-of-use to the user interface.
The Nokia Asha 311 is available at RM419 (SRP).
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Nokia Asha 305 – two heads are better than one
The Nokia Asha 305 is a colourful, fun and affordable phone, featuring the exclusive Easy Swap dual SIM. The phone features a bright and colorful 3″ WQVGA resistive touch screen along with Bluetooth and Dual Band connectivity. Forty EA games are available for download with every phone as well as a 2MP camera, Nokia Maps and the revolutionary Nokia Browser.
Nokia Asha 306 – the single twin sister
The Nokia Asha 306 is the sister device to the Nokia Asha 305, identical except that it is a single SIM model. Along with all the great features that come with its sister, such as bright and colorful, 3″ WQVGA resistive touch screen and 40 EA games for download – a Nokia exclusive offer, the Nokia Asha 306 also provides WLAN, enabling users to stay connected while on the move. It also supports video streaming through both GPRS and WLAN.
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Nokia Browser 2.0 – cloud goodness
The new Nokia Browser 2.0 uses Nokia’s cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90%, bringing faster and cheaper internet access to Asha users. Web sites load up to three times faster in comparison to devices without cloud-accelerated browsing.
Symbian Series 40 stays alive
The Nokia Store recently broke the 5 billion downloads landmark. According to Nokia, from January to April, 42% of all content downloaded from Nokia Store was delivered to Asha and other Nokia devices based on the Java ecosystem. Just one year ago, that number was 10%. Symbian Series 40 is, well, still alive and kicking.
In summary – the feature phone redefined
Nokia continues to push the envelope of feature phones, bringing smartphone-level features and capabilities to the cheaper, budget-conscious market. Feature-packed, the new all-touch Nokia Asha additions offer tremendous value at price points below RM500 levels. You may argue that there are sub-RM300-RM400 Android-powered smartphones out there, however, the Nokia Asha series is has shown that it is indeed a viable alternative.
*Redaction: Reader Amir has pointed out that Series 40 (S40) is not based on Symbian despite its similar naming convention to S60, S80 or S90. S40 is a low-end, basic embedded OS, non-multi-tasking and powers many of Nokia’s feature phones including the Asha family. Read http://eve-c.org/2011/syskwyawan/
