[May 10, 2013] Nokia bets on its 16th Asha series phone to fight competition [Business Daily (Kenya)] Tweet (Business Daily (Kenya) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nokia has unveiled Asha 501, its latest low-cost smart feature phone targeted at the youth in emerging markets. The new gadget becomes Nokia's 16th model under the Asha series which the firm is using to fight growing competition from Asian handset makers Samsung and Huawei in the smart devices category. It is billed to compress Internet data by up to 90 per cent, making mobile browsing faster and more affordable. "The new Nokia Asha 501 raises the bar for what is possible in affordable smartphone design and optimisation," said Timo Toikkanen, Nokia executive vice president, Mobile Phones. "The synergy between the physical design and the engine that is the new Asha platform has created a smartphone with both style and substance at a great price." Featuring a three-inch touch screen, an app store, 4GB of internal memory with a micro-SD slot of up to 32GB and in single and dual SIM versions; the Asha 501 will be available beginning June at about Sh9,000. Nokia says the phone is designed for users on the go, providing two screens: 'Home' which launch a traditional icon-based view and 'Fastlane' which lists recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps. By releasing another phone in the Asha range, the Finnish giant is sending a signal that it is keen to focus on the entry-level smartphone segment despite launching high-end Windows powered devices under the Lumia range. There are 15 other Asha handsets that have already been released into markets by Nokia. Asha 205 retails at Sh5,999 and the 303 series costs Sh12,999. READ: Nokia unveils the 15th of its Asha series phone Samsung has been promoting its low-end smartphones in the Galaxy range such as the Pocket and Mini, which cost Sh9,999 and Sh12,999 respectively. Huawei has partnered with telecoms service provider Safaricom to sell its flagship smartphone Ideos Ascend Y-100, for Sh5,999. Of the roughly 350,000 new mobile phones Kenyans buy every month, smartphones account for a quarter of total devices sold. (c) 2013 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]