Nokias plans for regaining its title as the worlds largest mobile phone maker include courting the North American marketnever a stronghold, even during its heydayas well as fighting BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and others for users in developing markets. Toward that latter agenda, on May 15 the Finnish phone maker introduced, from Pakistan, the Nokia 110 and 112.
Bright, feature-rich features phones with a youthful vibe, these devices speak to Nokias stated goal to get the worlds next billion people onto the Internet. The phones offer Internet browsing and technology that compresses Websites in the cloud, enabling users to consume 90 percent less data.
Todays mobile phone users want a quick Internet experience that allows them to discover great content and share it with their friendsbut without being held back by high data costs, Mary McDowell, Nokias executive vice president of mobile phones, said in a statement.
The phones, which have very subtle differences in designthe 110 also offers 10.5 hours of talk time to the 112s 14 hoursfeature 1.8-inch displays, access to Facebook and Twitter from their home screens, and a preloaded eBuddy instant messaging service thats ready to use out of the box.
In addition to the above-mentioned battery lifethey also get nearly a months worth of standby timetheyre Dual SIM phones with Easy Swap technology. Users can move between SIMstreating one SIM as a professional number, for example, and other for personal usewithout removing the battery or turning off the phone. Easy Swap can also remember up to five different SIM cards, enabling users toanother benefit of multiple SIMsbetter manage their costs.
Nokia, in the coming months, will also offer 40 games from Electronic Arts (EA)including titles like Tetris and Need for Speedto users of the 110 and 112, who will need to download the games within 60 days but then can keep them indefinitely for free.
Additionally, both phones feature a media player and FM radio, and what Nokia calls an improved VGA camera. Paired with 32GB of external memory, its enough to support more than 6,000 songs or 90,000 pictures. Theres Bluetooth, along with GPRS/EDGE connectivity, and color choices of cyan, magenta and neon yellow. As McDowell notes in the statement, theyre for young, urban consumers who want to do it all.
Reuters reported April 18 on RIM launching a new BlackBerry in India, the success its experiencing in Indonesia, and the perception that RIMs good luck in such markets has happened a bit by accident. The story offered the example of an officer worker who had shifted from a Nokia device to a more trendy BlackBerry, though, at about $200, it cost him nearly two months salary.
The biggest challenge for RIM is price, Sarwoto Atmosutarno, CEO of one of Indonesias largest carriers, told Reuters. Indonesia, like India, is a volume game industry.
While Pakistan isnt as developed a market as Indonesia, Nokia appears to have made an effort on the price side, and will sell the Nokia 110 for 35 euros and the 112 for 38 eurosor, approximately $45 and $49, respectively.
Both phones are expected to begin shipping in the third quarter.