Nokia Introduces New Devices to Asha Portfolio

Nokia phones

Emma Okonji

Nokia has launched two more devices to its Asha range of smartphones in the Nigerian market. The Nokia Asha 210 and Nokia Asha 501 were launched in Lagos along with the announcement of the second round of the Nokia 'Don't Break Da Beat' rap competition.

The new Nokia Asha 210 is an affordable all-in-one smartphone built to satisfy users' need to be socially connected.

It is a dual SIM smartphone with a 2.4 inch LCD display, fast and responsive QWERTY keypad and Wi-Fi. It also comes with two dedicated buttons on the keyboard for users to access camera and social network sites -WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or Nokia Xpress browser in a faster way. The device offers a fantastic range of smart features such as voice guidance for taking perfect self-portraits, fast editing of images directly from the camera app and Nokia's innovative Slam feature for transfer of content such as images or videos to another Bluetooth-enabled phone without the need to pair devices.

Managing Director, Nokia West and Central Africa, Mr Nick Imudia, said the new Asha 501 remained the first of its kind in the next generation of Nokia Asha devices, using the new Asha operating system. He stated that the device was perfectly suited to consumers in emerging markets looking to buy their first smartphone. The device features two main screens; 'Home' and 'Fastlane', for launching software and taking action on new notifications.

"Both smartphones come with the Nokia Xpress browser which enables up to 85 per cent data compression making it faster and cheaper for consumers to access the internet, browse, use web apps and update social networks. Currently, in Nigeria, we have over 6 million users of Nokia Xpress browser and this is steadily growing as more people enjoy the benefits of cost effective and fast browsing," he added.

Speaking on the Nokia Don't Break Da Beat rap competition, Marketing Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Kesiena Ogbemi, said: "This year's competition is going to be bigger, better and more exciting. There will be extended online engagement as potential participants will be required to enter via online platforms." He added that Nokia partnered Trace TV, to make this year's competition really hot.

According to Ogbemi, "The participants will be required to follow the Nokia Nigeria Twitter handle and Facebook page. The Judges will send out rap lines on both social network channels and contestants will then reply with their own lines to enter for the competition. The judges will select the top 300 lines from across the country, and the entrants will then move on to the next phase of the competition. The winner of this year's competition will get a whooping sum of $20,000."