14 DAY TRIAL // Three new devices in Nokia’s Asha series were announced today, namely the Nokia Asha 202, Asha 203 and Asha 302, all of them meant to help the company connect the next billion people to the Internet.
Nokia has been hard at work with the release of new devices in the Asha series, although it introduced the first such devices only four months ago, at the Nokia World 2011.
Today, these phones are available in more than 100 markets all around the world. The three new devices launched today will soon join their ranks, Nokia unveiled.
The new Nokia Asha 202 and 203 phones pack 2.4-inch touch screen displays, complemented by a traditional keyboard for increased input options.
The new devices could easily prove ideal for browsing, scrolling and opening applications, the Finnish handset vendor announced.
The Asha 202 arrives on shelves with Dual SIM Easy Swap technology and with a dedicated SIM manager to offer increased personalization capabilities across the phone. Users can save up to five SIM cards with unique information.
Both Nokia Asha 202 and Asha 203 arrive on shelves with 2-megapixel cameras, music player, FM radio, and Nokia Browser. They also offer Bluetooth connectivity and support for microSD memory cards of up to 32GB.
These phones should arrive on shelves sometime in the second quarter of the current year, featuring a price tag of about EUR 60 - $80 - (excluding taxes and subsidies).
Estimated retail price for each is about EUR 60, excluding taxes and subsidies, and both are expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012.
“Nokia and EA have teamed on innovative ways to bring games to the next billion. The Nokia Asha 202 and 203 will be the first Series 40 devices to offer EA games,” Nokia announced.
“As a 60-day promotion at Nokia Store, the EUR 75 separate cost of an EA 40-game pack - including popular titles such as Tetris, Need for Speed, The Run and Bejeweled - will be automatically waived for buyers of either new model.”
As for the Asha 302, Nokia packed it with Mail for Exchange support, so that people could access their emails, contacts and calendar on an exchange server.
The handset also features a stylish QWERTY keyboard, a 2.4-inch screen, a 1GHz application processor, and support for 3.5G data speeds. It can also offer social networking capabilities, and chatting through Whatsapp and other IM services. Nokia Asha 302 is available for EUR 95 ($127).
"Since outlining a new strategy a year ago, we've taken significant actions to deliver against it," said Mary T. McDowell, Nokia's executive vice president for mobile phones.
"We've been connecting the next billion people to the mobile world and its benefits through contemporary feature phones and internet services. Today, we are taking another step in that direction, with a compelling combination of smarter mobile devices packed with innovative services."
