14 DAY TRIAL // Starting today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is making a new software update available for download over-the-air for its Asha devices out there, including the Nokia Asha 500, 501, 502, 503, and 230.
Both the single and dual-SIM flavors of these handsets are set to receive the update, the company announced, adding that this is one of the must-have updates that it made available for the Asha lineup so far.
The new software release is set to bring new life to Asha devices through features such as Nokia MixRadio, the free, personalized music streaming service from the Finnish vendor.
With Nokia MixRadio on their devices, users will be able to enjoy access to millions of tracks, thus having their favorite bands on the phone at all times. However, the service is not available on the Nokia Asha 230 and is not accessible in all markets out there as of now.
The service will also provide users with the possibility to create their own mixes and save them to their handsets for listening whenever they want. They can also be streamed over a data connection, though this could result in data charges.
“With the ability to create your own mixes based on your favourite artists, you’ll be able to listen to your much-loved songs until your heart’s content,” a recent post on Nokia Conversations reads.
The camera on Nokia Asha devices will also be enhanced in the new release, now with a voice-guided self-portrait feature, which will allow users to snap photos of themselves much easier than before.
“No more guessing if your face is in the shot, just turn your phone around, face the camera and listen as your Asha guides you left, right, up or down. You’ll be taking selfies like a Hollywood/Bollywood pro in no time,” said blog post explains.
The new update also brings along support for Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud service, so that users can easily have their photos saved to the cloud, either automatically or manually. Users will receive 7GB of free storage space in OneDrive, Nokia notes.
Storing photos in the cloud means that users will be able to access them at all times, and that they are also safe in the event that anything happens with the device.
Additionally, the new Asha platform upgrade arrives on devices with a series of improvements to the Fastlane, now being capable of bringing users closer to all of their friends on their social network, said blog post notes.
“Re-tweets and Facebook likes now pop up in Fastlane, as do friends’ birthdays. No more ‘sorry I forgot your card again…’ There’s no excuse now,” Nokia notes.
The update also comes with new parental control features, which means that users can now borrow their Asha phones to other members of their family knowing that they can control the browser and Store access, and that no unwanted downloads will be performed.
The new Asha platform version is already arriving on handsets out there as an OTA update. Users will receive a notification when it is available for their phones, but they can also manually check on its availability by going to Settings > Phone Update.
