One thing I love about Nokia and Samsung is the fact that they have a phone for everyone in their product portfolios. Today in Abu Dhabi Nokia announced three phones for emerging markets the Asha 500, Asha 502, and the 3G-powered Asha 503. Unlike other Asha Phones, the new babes come with an “ice layer” on top of Nokia’s characteristic bright colors. Think of ice as a clear shell covering the back of the device.
Seems most high-end features are trickling down to feature phones as Nokia now has revamped the camera interface to mimic the iPhone as you can now quickly access it directly by swiping up from the lock-screen. You can also swipe left and right to access snapped images and camcorder mode, respectively, and there’s also one tap sharing to Facebook.
The Asha 500 and comes with a 2MP camera and will come in both single-SIM and dual-SIM variants just the way we like them. The 5MP equipped Asha 502 is only available as a dual-SIM device. Both of those are 2G only devices. The higher end of the three devices, the Asha 503 comes with 3G connectivity support, as well as Gorilla Glass 2 screen protection. It’ll also come in both single and dual-SIM variants. The “ice protected” colors include white, black, bright red, bright green, yellow,
and cyan just the way we love our Nokia candy.
As for pricing, the new Asha lineup starts at $69 for the Asha 500, while the Asha 502 and 503 will run you $89 and $99, respectively. Availability for all three are coming in Q4 of this year, to Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. For me one question comes to mind; what will happen to the Asha line of devices after the Microsoft acquisition?
