Nokia has launched two new handsets in the Asha series aimed at developing markets — the Asha 220 and the Asha 230 — at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona today.
Described as ‘ultra-affordable’, the Asha 220 brings access to data-driven services via the Nokia Xpress browser (which uses server-side data compression to reduce usage) and select apps like Twitter and Facebook. This is a notable development for a device that costs just €29 ($40) before taxes, as devices in this bracket tend to be limited to ‘dumb’ phones.
The Asha 230, on the other hand, offers more of a feature phone experience and runs the same OS found on the Asha 500 line . To complement this, Nokia has also tweaked its Fastlane UI, by integrating Twitter, for example. The 230 also comes with access to apps like Nokia Mix Radio and OneDrive, as well as the option to take “voice-guided selfies.” The Asha 230 will cost from €45 ($62) before taxes, and like the Asha 220, will be available from around the first week of March.
Check out our image gallery of the devices below.
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Featured Image Credit – MARKKU ULANDER/AFP/Getty Images
HTC unveils new Butterfly S and Desire 200 smartphones at launch in Taiwan
Today, HTC unveiled two new smartphones as it competes with rivals Apple and Samsung: the Desire 200, an inexpensive Android-powered device, and the Butterfly S, a top-tier handset on par with the company’s flagship HTC One.
Details regarding the two devices had been widely speculated, and were officially disclosed today at a press conference curiously held in Yilan, a beach town about one hour from Taipei.
As reported by Engadget , the Butterfly S device features a 5-inch 1080p display, HTC’s Sense 5 UI, front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers – making this device, along with the HTC One, top quality when it comes to audio.
The smartphone runs Android Jelly Bean on a quad-core 1.9GHZ Snapdragon 600, a startlingly long-lasting 3,200mAh battery, quad-band HSPA/WCDMA radio, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It also has an UltraPixel Camera, Zoe software features, as well as a 2.1-megapixel wide-angle camera on the device’s front-facing side.
Photos of the phone leaked last week. The BoomSound speakers are quite visible and recall those on the HTC One.
The company also unveiled the new low-end Desire 200, the details of which were revealed yesterday .
Launched in collaboration with Taiwan carrier Chunghua Telecom , HTC apparently took deliberate measures to keep the launch of the devices as quiet as possible. Access was given almost exclusively to local media outlets, who were bused to the event from the capital.
Engadget reports that the Butterfly S phone will retail for NT $22,900 (roughly $766), while the Desire 200 will sell for NT $4990 (roughly $165). There’s no word yet on subsequent launches in Asia or internationally.
Despite earning $970 million in revenue in May, its best monthly sales figure in about one year, HTC has lately been struggling financially. In Q4 of 2014 the firm brought in a mere $34 million in net profits, its lowest since 2004, and Q1 of 2013 didn’t fare much better . Sales of HTC one, the company’s flagship smartphone, reached 5 million one month after its launch, while rival Samsung’s Galaxy S4 reached double that amount within the same time period.
Update: HTC just posted a preview for the Butterfly S on YouTube .
http://www.youtubeom/watch?v=9nzTHKdZH8o&feature=youtu.be
Samsung teases ‘Premiere 2013’ event, will likely unveil new Galaxy and ATIV devices on June 20
Samsung has just announced a new event that will be used to “premiere” new mobile devices for its Galaxy and ATIV portfolio.
The unveiling will take place on June 20 at Earls Court 2, London and be livestreamed over on its corresponding YouTube channel from 6pm BST/ 1pm ET/ 10am PT.
The teaser poster (below) includes three snapshot images that could give readers a tantalizing glimpse at what the new devices will look like.
Rumors of a smaller Galaxy S4 , appropriately named the Galaxy S4 Mini, have been circulating for some time now, although the moniker is so strong – and synonymous with Android – that it’s also possible we could see multiple devices being announced simultaneously.
The ATIV range, meanwhile, is Samsung’s ongoing foray into the Windows Phone mobile operating system. The company is yet to make much of a dent; the ATIV S, released last year, was met with some pretty middling reviews .
Nokia still dominates what small market share Windows Phone has accumulated in recent years – new data suggests it has just overtaken BlackBerry – so it should come as no surprise that Samsung wants to strengthen its position in this space too.
The Next Web will be covering the launch as and when it happens, so be sure to check-in with our site both during and after the event.