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Nokia Asha 308 and Asha 309.
Expected Q4 2012.
The Nokia Asha 308 and Asha 309 are two closely related touchscreen feature phones priced
at less than €100, and are due to hit the market during Q4 2012.
The difference between the two handsets is straightforward - the Asha 308 is dual-SIM
device, and the Asha 309 substitutes WiFi for the second SIM slot. These are 2G devices
only, but they do include a new version of the Nokia Xpress Browser which is optimised
for slower connections, and of course the 309 has WiFi for use on a suitable wireless
network.
These are two elegant looking devices with a 3" 240 x 400 pixel capacitive touchscreen
on the front and a very basic two megapixel camera on the back. The Asha 308 and 309 are
capable of video recording, but at a paltry 176 x 144 pixels at 10 fps it is probably
best avoided.. although if you want, you can upload your blurrycam vids directly to YouTube.
The Asha 308 and 309 have a pretty comprehensive music player plus an FM radio, although video
playback options look a bit limited. There's a microSD slot with a 2GB memory card included
in the standard sales package. A stereo wired headset is included in the box.
Nokia are tentatively touting the Asha 308 and 309 as smartphones, citing GfK and IDC
as supporters of that category. Most industry analysts count the Series 40 powered Asha
range as feature phones though, but there is no doubt that Nokia is definitely challenging
low-end smartphones in terms of features.
Available applications include support for Facebook and Twitter social networks, YouTube,
Nokia Life+ in selected markets, a web browser, email client and 40 free games from EA plus
other applications available from the Nokia Store.
The Nokia Asha 309 offers Nokia Maps and WLAN-based network positioning, although GPS would be
a nice feature to see. WLAN positioning looks at the locally available WiFi networks and
can usually work out a surprisingly accurate location from that data. The Nokia Asha 308
doesn't have WiFi, so it can't use WLAN positioning.. however, the SIM slots are hot-swappable which
is another nice feature to have.
The 1110 mAh battery is quoted as giving up to 6 hours talktime and 21 days standby time
(for the 308) and 27 days (for the 309). The Asha 308 is available in a dual-band 900 / 1800
MHz version only, the 309 is a quad-band GSM device. Both devices weigh a fraction over
100 grams and measure 110 x 54 x 13mm.
The Nokia Asha 309 will be available in black and white colours, the 308 in black and gold.
Nokia say that the handsets should cost around €99 before tax and subsidy and should be
out by the end of the year.
Although these two devices are primarily aimed at emerging markets, we can expect Nokia to
sell quite a lot of these to prepay customers worldwide in the run-up to Christmas.