PAY ATTENTION TO Nokia users

After all the fuss over Window Phone on Nokia hardware dies down, we're left with the UI that most Nokia users around the world interact with, S40. More affordable, these devices are feature phones in contrast to their smartphone Windows Phone counterparts, though as Stephen Elop accurately mentioned in his keynote earlier today, the line is ever blurring between the two categories of handsets.

Nokia today announced their Asha line-up of S40 devices. These phones do appear to be something more than what we've been considering a "feature phone" until now. The Asha 303 even has a 1GHz processor, faster than many Android handsets on sale now. We're fully aware of the limitations of a Series 40 device, but with the improved hardware, applications and web-browser packed with simple search functionality and a data monitor, S40 feature phones just got a bit smarter.


Nokia Asha 200

Being the most budget of the Asha lineup, we might expect the Nokia Asha to have no real stand-out features, but this isn't the case. In fact, the Nokia Asha 200 features something few other phones have: dual SIM card slots. The S40 interface on board is also tweaked to allow for specific ringtones and profiles associated to each SIM cards. The device also has a full QWERTY keyboard, making the inclusion of WhatsAPP on S40 a really fantastic prospect at such a low pricepoint - watch out RIM.

On the subject of price, this is a budget phone, there's no denying it. Pick it up and it's extremely light to the touch. With a hollow almost toy like quality, we had to switch on the display just to reassure ourselves we weren't using a dummy device. It has a pretty neat plastic backing with dual layered plastic. This just adds a visual flourish to the back cover reminiscent of some Samsung TVs, Laptops and indeed phones (Samsung Omnia 2).