Nokia unveils cheap touchscreen phones

Asha 306 to have a touch screen, Wi-Fi and will cost around Rs7,000.

KARACHI: In yet another move to sustain its dominance, Nokia – the largest player in Pakistan – unveiled three touch screen phones with a price range targeting mid-to-low range customers of the hypercompetitive market of 180 million people.

The three new models Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311 will have Wi-Fi and are expected to sell at Rs7,000, Rs8,000 and Rs10,500, respectively.

All three phones are powered by a 1GHz processor, the same computing speed found in an Apple iPhone 4. The Asha Touch Device Range will expand the Asha Family, first introduced in October last year, to a total of 10 devices available in 130 markets, according to the official press release.

All three phones will give users free download of 40 EA games including infamous Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed: The Run and Fifa 2012. The Nokia Asha 311 will also have 15 levels of Angry Birds pre-loaded onto the phone, giving consumers a smartphone-like experience, the press release said.

The new devices also feature the Nokia Browser 2.0, a major recent update which uses Nokia’s cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90%, giving faster and cheaper internet access, adds the press release.

Nokia Asha 311 has a capacitive touch screen and guerrilla glass just like more expensive smartphones by Apple, Samsung and HTC.

Nokia Asha 305 features easy swap dual SIM while Nokia Asha 306, is a single SIM model, but is Nokia’s most affordable Wi-Fi handset to date, it said.

The Nokia Asha 305 will be released in the second quarter of 2012 while the other two will be available in the third quarter.

The mobile giant, only a few weeks ago, chose the Pakistani market to unveil Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 – low-end dual SIM feature phones – in a global handset launch event as part of the company’s strategy ‘to connect the next billion consumers with internet’. Asha touch screen devices are another move by Nokia to offer low-priced phones with rich features.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2012.