In a word filled with droids, berries, apples and windows, a lot of people thought that it was time for Nokia to retire its Symbian phones and replace them with the more mainstream and modern operating systems that most manufacturers are using nowadays.

But Nokia isn’t about to give up on the mobile platform that has brought them success for the past decade. And contrary to what a lot of people were suggesting, Nokia is trying to rejuvenate and update its Symbian powered products, so enter now the Nokia Asha Touch range.

The word Asha means ‘hope’ or ‘aspiration’ in the Hindi culture, which is a very fitting name for these new products. According to the people at Nokia, the name reflects the spirit of consumers: the world around them is changing and they view the everyday as a new, exciting opportunity -- an opportunity to express themselves, share experiences, and connect with the people and things that are most important to them.

“At Nokia, we give ourselves the challenge to connect the next billion to the internet. As part of this ambition, we design devices for consumers who want a better experience of the mobile Internet and we also have in mind the people experiencing the web for the very first time. With Asha we are opening up the digital world to everyone, no matter what their circumstances.” - Dharmesh Goshalia, Nokia Philippines general manager.

The Asha Touch range was supposedly born out of the company’s realization of how social media heavily affects the lives of phones users especially those in developing economies. And the company wants to provide these users with new ways to stay connected to the people and networks that matter to them, and their choice of phone should be an extension of how much they value staying in touch and expressing themselves.  

“The Asha range is special because, although the phones can be used by anyone, the range was designed with a younger, urban audience in mind. These people are extremely social and always on-the-go. We understand that there’s social currency in having an eye-catching device, and they want the best for their money.” 

Price was very important to Nokia so they made it a point to make the entire range very affordable. Moreover, the company specifically  the Nokia Xpress Browser, which offers up to 90% data compression, allowing Asha users to experience the power of the Internet at a fraction of the cost of other devices. And if that’s not enough, Nokia pitched in 40 free pre-loaded EA games and Nokia Mapswhich can be used offline, helping save on data costs. 

Looks is also important to Nokia. The sleek body design is accented with quality details, such as the chrome-look band and camera bezel. The navigation on the Touch range is effortless; just a simple and natural ‘swipe’ to unlock, and the user can swiftly flip through the phone’s features. The rich metallics and contrasting bold curves and crisp edges of the Asha 305, Asha 306 and the new Asha309 smartphone reflect the lifestyle, individuality and status of the bold, expressive and energetic consumer. The Asha family even comes in a variety of vibrant, stylish colors harmonized with the phone’s user interface.

But of course, Nokia has always been known to give its users the power of customizability. And the Asha touch range is no exception. Each phone has a different personality which is reflected in its individual design features. For instance, the compactly designed Asha 311 with its curved edges and smooth surfaces is perfect for a style-aware generation passionate about fashion, accessories and socializing.

And last but not the least, Nokia has taken great consideration on how practical the Asha line would be. For consumers who want to go for hours without having a way to recharge their phone, the Asha smartphones provide long-lasting battery. The polarized screen means consumers living in the sunniest countries, like the Philippines, can use it without glare and the scratch-resistant glass ensures it can tackle the everyday rigors of busy life.

As a result, the Asha phones have received the highest net promoter scores (NPS), which means consumers would recommend them to their friends and family. Not only that, they were often surprised that a phone range this affordable could do so much for them.

Check out the Asha range at a Nokia Store near you.  For product information go to www.nokia.com.ph

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About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world.  Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another.  Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world.  For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com.ph. 

Follow Nokia on Facebook and Twitter. 

Nokia has just announced two brand new feature phones to add to its Asha Family – The Nokia 308 and 309. Both are expected to be available in Q4 this year. Both phones feature a 3.0-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels with a pixel density of 155 ppi.

Both phones have an internal storage space of 20 MB which can be expanded up to 32GB. They also have the same camera which is rated at 2MP and can capture images at 1600x1200 pixels. The phones also feature support for Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, an accelerometer, and Stereo FM radio with RDS.

In terms of memory, both phones have 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM. And just like other members of the Asha Family, these phones will come with 40 free EA games free for download as well as 22 classic arcade games which can be bought from the Nokia Store. They will also feature Nokia’s new Xpress browser that uses cloud compression technology to make web surfing faster at the same time consuming up to 90% less data.

The difference with the phones comes in Wi-Fi capability and dual-SIM functionality. The Nokia 308 is a dual-SIM phone with easy swap SIM support. However, it has no Wi-Fi capability unlike the Nokia 309. The 309, on the other hand supports only 1 SIM and will work on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM bands unlike the 308 that supports only the 900/1800 GSM bands.

Pricing for the Asha 308 and 309 are still not confirmed, but given the specification of these devices, expect prices to range from 3500PHP and up.

The tech world is such an ever dynamic place and each day is filled with new technology and new stories that can greatly affect how we live our lives. And since technology is very much intertwined with our lives and our lifestyle, it’s very important that we keep up-to-date with the latest trends, news and innovations about the tech industry.

For this reason, I have decided to put up a special section in our blog that will feature technology news and trends that are most relevant to the common Pinoy. And today marks its first episode! So if you’re ready, let’s begin.

A New Screen: A YouTube video has recently received a lot of attention from the tech savvy community. The video shows a new tactile display that has buttons that rise out of the screen when needed. According to its creators – Tactus Tech, the protruding buttons are made possible with the use of microfluidic technology. It’s a special layer of fluid within the display stack that is activated by pressure causing the protrusion of buttons when needed.

At present, Tactus tech is currently planning to partner with device and component manufacturers to integrate the tactile layer into next-generation devices of mobile phones, tablets and other devices that makes use of touch screens.

Breach: Probably the most important news in the past two weeks was about LinkedIn. The password theft that happened last week shocked the entire LinkedIn community. Around 6.5 million passwords were apparently dumped in a Russian hacker forum, compromising the social networking site’s reputation.

And although passwords were the only ones that the hackers took from the site, experts say that these passwords can be reverse engineered to decrypt other sources of information. During the past few days, LinkedIn has been bombarded by criticisms on how they protect data from their members. And although it still hasn’t affected the performance of their stocks in the market, the world has yet to know the full story and full extent of the damage as the company is mum on the details of the breach.

A New Breed of Asha: It seems Nokia hasn’t given up on Symbian yet. They recently released three new Asha models. The Nokia 311, 306 and 305 will all pack touch screens and as the conventional naming convention suggests, the higher the number will mean that the device will have the higher specs. Prices for the new Asha models will start at 68 euros and will sport the usual set of multimedia and connectivity options like Bluetooth, WLAN (for 311 and 306), 3.5mm audio jack and accelerometer.

Event: One of the most talked about event from last week was Asia’s premier technology and consumer electronics trade show – Computex. Now in its 32^nd year, Computex is now attended by over 120,000 global participants from IT corporations, analyst firms and media outlets, and showcases not only the latest gadgets and technology in the market but also the future of consumer electronics headed to Asia.

This year, the event’s stars were Intel and Microsoft. Intel has created some buzz a few weeks back when they announced the release of their Ivy Bridge processors to the public. And lo and behold, those Ivy Bridge processors were everywhere. Microsoft on the other hand made some noise a few days before Computex when they announced the release preview of Windows 8. In fact Windows 8 was featured in several devices at the event such as the dual display laptop/tablet Asus Taichi, the Acer 5600U and 7600U all-in-one PCs, the MSI slider S20 as well as new versions of Ultrabooks such as the Acer Aspire S7.

And that’s just about it for this episode of Tech Tuesdays. Until next week!

If you have any comments and suggestions, please do leave a message in the comment box below. Thanks!