Nokia today revealed its low-cost Asha 210 qwerty phone, with the first dedicated WhatsApp button.
The social-aimed Nokia Asha 210 joins a range of 14 other Asha phones in the marketplace, including the Finnish manufacturer's most recent Asha touch products like the 310 and 311.
"The Asha qwerty products are favoured by people who like to do lots of social networking, lots of instant messaging, lots of e-mail, and they really appreciate the positive and tactile feeling that a really physical qwerty keypad gives them," says Neil Broadley, of Nokia's product marketing team.
Nokia has been trying to regain momentum after losing market share to Samsung and Apple in the high-end smartphone market. The company is also struggling at the low end against growing competition from Chinese manufacturers.
Partnerships
The Asha 210 is the first product on the market to feature a dedicated WhatsApp key right on the front of the device, says Nokia. "It gives consumers really fast, really easy direct access to their WhatsApp, which is a hugely popular instant messaging application that processes more than 20 billion messages every single day," Broadley adds.
WhatsApp has guaranteed that the handset will be subscription-free for its lifetime.
"We are focused on delivering the best WhatsApp experience to as many people as possible," said co-founder of WhatsApp, Brian Acton. "We are very excited about our partnership, with Nokia Asha complementing our strategy of giving people around the world an easy experience when keeping in touch with their friends."
This is not the first social partnership for Nokia, says Broadley. "With the Asha 205, we worked really closely with Facebook to bring a dedicated Facebook button onto the front of the phone, which made it really fast and really easy for people to access their Facebook."
Features
The Nokia Asha 210 will be available in single- or easy-swap dual-SIM variants supporting WiFi. It features a 2MP camera that can be accessed through a dedicated hardkey even when the keypad is locked.
The camera also offers a choice of image capture, editing and sharing options, including self-portrait that centres self-portraits even without a front-facing camera. It has a built-in voice that guides the user to ensure they are in the frame, before taking the shot.
The Slam feature ensures quick sharing by enabling the transfer of content such as images or videos to another Bluetooth-enabled phone without the need to pair devices.
The Asha 210 also features the Xpress Browser, which uses Nokia's cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90%.
The Nokia Asha 210 also features Nokia Nearby, a Web app that lets people discover points of interest, such as restaurants, shopping and ATM machines, close to their location.
The Nokia Asha 210 is available in yellow, cyan, black, magenta, and white. The estimated retail price is around $72 and it is expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2013.
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