Nokia's Asha Launches for $99 and Comes with a New OS

Last year Nokia, acquired a company called Smartphone. It is a small Norwegian company that has an operating system for basic cell phones, most commonly known as feature phones. “The Smarterphone operating system is designed to allow basic phones with lower-end hardware to feel more like smartphones. The software also allows the company to tailor the software to different markets. This is what Smarterphone’s Nordic investor parent, Ferd Capital had to say earlier this year.

Nokia is already using Microsoft’s Windows Phone as an OS and it also has its own Symbian platform. The re-engineered Smartphone OS is being dubbed the “Asha software platform.” Designed to use the new platform, Nokia announced on May 9, 2013 that it is launching its latest phone in the Asha family.

In New Delhi, Nokia introduced the Asha 501. It is a very colorful cheap phone. It is available in a wide range of vivid colors. The new Asha platform focuses on swipe events along with a new feature that the company calls Fastlane. This feature allows the user to view recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps.

One of the new features is that you can swipe between the traditional home screen and the Fastlane skin. The Asha 501 has a low resolution capacitive touch screen. It will only run on 2G networks and Wi-Fi. The price tag for this will only be $99.

The phone itself is very basic. It is made out of only two parts. This makes it not only more durable, but also so much cheaper to manufacture. The back is removable giving you access to the pre-installed four GB microSD card. It is upgradable to 32 GB. You also have access to the microSIM and the battery.

The battery boasts a 48 day standby time, 26 days for the dual SIM model. The talk time is in the range of 17 hours. The Asha 501 will have Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0 and a 3.2 megapixel fixed focus rear camera.

There is a version that will have two microSIM cards. The nice feature is that you can swap between the two cards without rebooting or opening the back of the phone. Keeping in line with the swipe focus, you simply swipe to switch between which microSIM you want to use. Nokia points out that this is very unique to them.

In a statement, Nokia said, “The new Asha platform provides developers with an open, standards-based environment for creating quality apps for consumers. Developers can create apps for the Nokia Asha 501 that will be compatible with future Asha platform-based devices."

Smartphone is a company that allows developers to create smartphone-like apps that run on feature phones. This is how Nokia can keep the cost down on the Asha 501. The new Asha OS will be a very social platform. It will come with Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and several other apps out of the box.

The Nokia Asha 501 is part of Nokia's budget range of phones. It is really aimed at emerging markets such as India and Latin America. It is expected to be available in the U.K. later this year. Nokia is looking at wider European availability starting with the availability of the Asha 501 in June. Nokia has said that it won't be shipping to North America any time soon. More likely, it will never reach the shores of North America.