Doing double duty, Nokia announces new high-end, low-end handsets
Reaching for any way to regain share lost to Apple and other competitors, Nokia on Friday revealed a new version of its flagship Lumia handset, redesigned and exclusive to Verizon, capping off a week in which it also looked to tackle the low end of the smartphone market with $99 phones.
Friday marked the introduction of Nokia's long-rumored Lumia 928, a Verizon-exclusive variant of the manufacturer's Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920, available on AT&T. The 928 sports a slimmer build than the 920 ? addressing one major complaint the tech press had about the device ? and has a more squarish design. Underneath its 4.5-inch 1280x768 display, the device packs a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 2,000mAh battery, and 32GB of storage.
The Lumia 928 will go on sale from Verizon on May 16. It will be priced at $100.
As with the other Lumia handsets, Nokia has been touting the photographic capabilities of the 928, especially the xenon flash unique to the 928. Nokia's teaser ads for the device, released over the past week or so, have touted its photo and video recording prowess, showing the 928 outperforming both Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S4.
Nokia has for some time been touting the image quality produced by its PureView technology as a main selling point for its smartphones, but it still lags far behind Apple and Samsung in terms of sales, having sold 5.6 million Lumia handsets in the most recent quarter.
Even as it rolls out its Verizon exclusive, Nokia is making ready for another announcement next week. On May 14, the company will unveil what it called a continuation of the "Nokia Lumia story." Nokia could be introducing the Lumia EOS, a rumored aluminum-constructed flagship device that does even more to leverage its PureView technology with a rumored 41MP camera.
At the same time that the erstwhile mobile phone leader is looking to regain share in the premium smartphone segment, Nokia has also turned its eye toward the very low-end segment. The phone maker introduced this week a new line of devices with capabilities somewhere between those of a featurephone and a smartphone.
Nokia's new Asha 501 is a touchscreen devices running what Nokia calls the "Asha software platform." The handset runs Java-based apps, and the OS features a swipe-based navigation system. The new Asha is priced according to its specifications as well, with a suggested cost of $99 or 75 euros.
Nokia is initially targeting developing markets with the new Asha, with the handset set to debut in India before launching worldwide ? with the exception of North America ? before the end of this quarter.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, in an interview with My Nokia Blog, admitted that the Asha line does not run a "high-end [operating system]." The company's goal was to bring as "high-end" an experience as possible to more people, but to keep the cost of the unit down at the same time.
Nokia chose to go with a different smartphone OS instead of Windows Phone 8, Elop said, because the low-end hardware necessary to keep the price low would result in a poor Windows Phone 8 experience.
"Lumia is Nokia's future," Elop said. "If it were to bring that experience to low-end devices, like you see on low-end Android, the experience is terrible, and it ruins the integrity of a brand ? which is the last thing Nokia want."
Low cost phones like the Asha 501 may help Nokia compete more effectively in developing markets, where billions of people are expected to adopt smartphones as their first computing devices in the coming years. Those looming billions are likely to represent much of the growth in smartphones, as many observers believe the premium end, concentrated heavily in developed nations, has largely matured.
Friday marked the introduction of Nokia's long-rumored Lumia 928, a Verizon-exclusive variant of the manufacturer's Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920, available on AT&T. The 928 sports a slimmer build than the 920 ? addressing one major complaint the tech press had about the device ? and has a more squarish design. Underneath its 4.5-inch 1280x768 display, the device packs a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 2,000mAh battery, and 32GB of storage.
The Lumia 928 will go on sale from Verizon on May 16. It will be priced at $100.
As with the other Lumia handsets, Nokia has been touting the photographic capabilities of the 928, especially the xenon flash unique to the 928. Nokia's teaser ads for the device, released over the past week or so, have touted its photo and video recording prowess, showing the 928 outperforming both Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S4.
Nokia has for some time been touting the image quality produced by its PureView technology as a main selling point for its smartphones, but it still lags far behind Apple and Samsung in terms of sales, having sold 5.6 million Lumia handsets in the most recent quarter.
Even as it rolls out its Verizon exclusive, Nokia is making ready for another announcement next week. On May 14, the company will unveil what it called a continuation of the "Nokia Lumia story." Nokia could be introducing the Lumia EOS, a rumored aluminum-constructed flagship device that does even more to leverage its PureView technology with a rumored 41MP camera.
At the same time that the erstwhile mobile phone leader is looking to regain share in the premium smartphone segment, Nokia has also turned its eye toward the very low-end segment. The phone maker introduced this week a new line of devices with capabilities somewhere between those of a featurephone and a smartphone.
Nokia's new Asha 501 is a touchscreen devices running what Nokia calls the "Asha software platform." The handset runs Java-based apps, and the OS features a swipe-based navigation system. The new Asha is priced according to its specifications as well, with a suggested cost of $99 or 75 euros.
Nokia is initially targeting developing markets with the new Asha, with the handset set to debut in India before launching worldwide ? with the exception of North America ? before the end of this quarter.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, in an interview with My Nokia Blog, admitted that the Asha line does not run a "high-end [operating system]." The company's goal was to bring as "high-end" an experience as possible to more people, but to keep the cost of the unit down at the same time.
Nokia chose to go with a different smartphone OS instead of Windows Phone 8, Elop said, because the low-end hardware necessary to keep the price low would result in a poor Windows Phone 8 experience.
"Lumia is Nokia's future," Elop said. "If it were to bring that experience to low-end devices, like you see on low-end Android, the experience is terrible, and it ruins the integrity of a brand ? which is the last thing Nokia want."
Low cost phones like the Asha 501 may help Nokia compete more effectively in developing markets, where billions of people are expected to adopt smartphones as their first computing devices in the coming years. Those looming billions are likely to represent much of the growth in smartphones, as many observers believe the premium end, concentrated heavily in developed nations, has largely matured.
Comments
How amazing. Another low-end phone to enter the market which is going to be sold to people who do not even use toilet paper. This phone is probably better than low-end Android phones though.
And I think you're using toilet paper on the wrong end.
What the hell is wrong with you?! :no::rolleyes::mad::(:grumble:
I know a lot of folks will want to bash them for 'copying Apple' and 'jumping to best rumors' but I give them points for not trying to shoehorn software that they feel gives a poor experience into lesser software. That is a part of Apple I wish more companies would copy.
That said, if Apple were to make a scaled down and less expensive iPhone I suspect it would run iOS just with some features removed. Like no Siri, no maps, no App Store etc. just perhaps calls, messages, email, camera, address book, calendar and notes. Wifi would be there basically for backups. Why would they do it like this? To make the move to a full iOS iPhone easier for folks to make so they might actually do it cause they don't have to earn things all over again. It might also be a great companion device for those that are doing their apps etc on an iPad and don't need their phone to be that smart.
That's why I hate Windows 8, it FORCES you to STARE at its screen while things flip around for no reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
What the hell is wrong with you?!
I might ask the same of you.
If you dispute anything that I wrote, then feel free to point it out.
And lastly, excuse me for not getting overly excited by any low end phones, and for believing that Apple should stay away from making low end devices, even though certain analysts and other people want Apple to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Reaching for any way to regain share lost to Apple and other competitors, Nokia on Friday revealed a new version of its flagship Lumia handset, redesigned and exclusive to Verizon, capping off a week in which it also looked to tackle the low end of the smartphone market with $99 phones.
...
The Lumia 928 will go on sale from Verizon on May 16. It will be priced at $100.
Does not compute....Does not compute....
So, let me get this straight, $99 is the cost of the low end phones and $100 is the cost oh the high end/flagship phones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by icoco3
Does not compute....Does not compute....
So, let me get this straight, $99 is the cost of the low end phones and $100 is the cost oh the high end/flagship phones.
One is no contract and the other is contract perhaps. That would explain it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
How amazing. Another low-end phone to enter the market which is going to be sold to people who do not even use toilet paper. This phone is probably better than low-end Android phones though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
What the hell is wrong with you?!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
I might ask the same of you.
If you dispute anything that I wrote, then feel free to point it out.
....
What isn't wrong about your statement?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69
And I think you're using toilet paper on the wrong end.
After it was used....
Quote:
Originally Posted by icoco3
What isn't wrong about your statement?
Then it shouldn't be that hard for you to point out what was wrong about it.
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Then it shouldn't be that hard for you to point out what was wrong about it.
Everything is wrong with your first sentence. Let's hope Jeff gets on and wipes the thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Then it shouldn't be that hard for you to point out what was wrong about it.
Data price is the same no matter what device you use.
The cheap $99 will be more expensive than the iphone 5 at tmobile for mothers day. iphone 4 is free from the major USA carriers.
Symbian is still alive in handsets using S40 or S60 based software..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
How amazing. Another low-end phone to enter the market which is going to be sold to people who do not even use toilet paper. This phone is probably better than low-end Android phones though.
So like techno fans who listen to David Guetta and use too many designer drugs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Everything is wrong with your first sentence. Let's hope Jeff gets on and wipes the thread.
Yes, by all means, let's erase the truth and facts from the thread. Was it the toilet paper comment that offends, even if it's true? That was not meant as a joke, I was being serious.
Well, go right ahead and erase it then. I'll be more careful of interjecting any facts into the conversation in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
Symbian is still alive in handsets using S40 or S60 based software..
And more than people think. Look at all the blue (Symbian) on this current chart of smartphone owners:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Was it the toilet paper comment that offends, even if it's true? That was not meant as a joke, I was being serious.
It's offensive, it's a lie, and it's offensive because it's a lie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
Symbian is still alive in handsets using S40 or S60 based software..
S40 runs on top of Nokia OS, not Symbian.
Nokia are still selling S60 models but there won't be any new models released.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDarling
And more than people think. Look at all the blue (Symbian) on this current chart of smartphone owners:
Just think in 2007 Symbian was where Android is now.
Fat lot of good it did Nokia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
Just think in 2007 Symbian was where Android is now.
And RIM and WinMo were where iOS is now.